Rise of Carnivores

Carnivores has made some strides since I saw them at Vacation Gallery in Atlanta almost two years ago. I posted about them then, and I thought they were great. But I was just down in Atlanta for an actual vacation and saw them at the Highland Inn and it was like seeing a different band -- a tighter band with a more pronounced psych pop thing going on. I was totally dancing and then a cupcake appeared out of nowhere and I totally ate it right there. I'm serious. Stop laughing.

I liked the show enough to decide that I needed the new Chandelier EP in my life so I bought it. You might need it in your life too. It's kinda like Slumber Party but the colors are deeper. Not darker, just more saturated. Well, maybe a little dark. With all the malaise in the lyrics it could be the soundtrack to a bizarre '60s soap opera.

Note that the word vacation is involved whenever I see this band ... coincidence?

the best noise in the world

I walk outside everyday and hear this.

Makes it worth the 50 million mosquito bites i have and the teenage-style acne.

suck it New York, I've got cicadas.

Living Walls The City Speaks 2010

Seriously,

I have been waiting for the new B.I.P. post talking all about the awesome Atlanta conference that opened last weekend. There is NOTHING more fitting for this blog's theme. Our good friend, Monica Campana (what, what?!), was half of the team that organized street artists from all over the world converging in a warehouse in Atlanta for a week. I'm not sure there is a worse idea in exsistence; a wonderful, stupid, amazing idea. The AC in the warehouse (Eyedrum) kept the temperature inside down to about 90 degrees. You cannot possibly imagine the fatal mix of sweat, paint fumes, and more beer than the weight of everyone there. The most accurate explaination I've heard is when I was going home Thursday night (after forcing strangers into manual labor for a structurally questionable door hanging -> should have taken physics) someone said, "you can't go home now, it's street art summer camp!" I'm saving up vacation time for next year.

One corner of the wall of bikes, don't worry they were ALL fixed gear.

The borrowed studio space for artists with one bathroom to share.

New tattoo

The amazing Ms. Campana

Since everyone else in the world has posted amazing pictures of the actual art and my photos of the walls aren't all together edited yet, I'll just link to some of the pages rather than poaching the pictures (like i did with the ones above).

Official Blog

Living Walls Facebook

Creative Loafing Cover Story

Creative Loafing - search results

Brooklyn Street Art

On the Radio

Juxtapoz 1

Juxtapoz 2

Juxtapoz Here Today Gone Tommorrow

Burnaway

Calling all Creative Criminals

And the men and women who love them: The Living Walls Conference is a big-ass and highly legit symposium on street art and urbanism taking place in Atlanta, Georgia in August. Scholars and exhibitors are coming from around the world to discuss the phenomenon of art (outlaw or otherwise) on city walls. It will be held at Eyedrum and Georgia Tech from the 13th to the 15th.

I genuinely believe there is a real need for critical dialogue on this subject. There have been conferences on this, but I didn't go to them and there's definitely room for more. Street art is one of the most vibrant and influential aspects of art and visual culture in the world today, and yet I encounter very little analytical talk on the subject. Sure, there are lots of picture books on this stuff and I love magazines like Hi Fructose, but they tend to serve more as champions for individual artists in the movement than as critics. A lot of the blogs I read that publicize street art are decidedly post-literate. (If there's a thoughtful essay about current street art on the web, don't hold out on me.)

The power of so much street art that I see, like the piece by Swampy above, is its ability to convey a great deal to many people without needing explanations from an art world intermediary. But for that very reason I'm eager to hear some reflective conversation about these extremely articulate images.

Currently, the organizers are calling for submissions of posters from street artists. So if you know a talented wheat paster or kamikaze muralist, why not tell them about Living Walls. Applying to participate in the conference could keep her off the streets and out of trouble for a good hour and a half. The deadline is July 13.

Full Disclosure: I am ridiculously proud to be a friend of some of the folks involved in this project.

Rhymes with Tease ...

If I were in Atlanta this weekend, I would definitely hit Eyedrum for this event. The holiday extravaganza is a sorely neglected art form and I'll take the festive machinations of Vagina Jenkins and Johnny Drago over the Rockettes any day.

For more information:
www.facebook.com/THEBIGFREEZEATL

Wacky News

I don't normally post these things but this bad elf story hits close to home. Page works at that mall.

Atlanta is a painted lady

And full of surprises. For instance, this is not a suggestion box.

You can find it at the corner of Ponce and North Highland. 

Vivian Girls Watch

I'm just going to get post happy and not care today. It's raining. If you go over to the Vivian Girls Myspace page, you can hear their poignant new cover of The Chantels' "He's Gone".

They have also announced new tour dates. Atlanta is not yet on the list. They haven't been back here in awhile. Was someone mean to them? Don't they like us? They have been making it down to South Florida and they will be playing The Ice Palace with Exene Cervenka and The Blow as part of Art Basel Miami on Thursday. It's really a good thing that I can't go. My head would explode.


Check out the love they get in my home-ish state:

Rad Laundry

 

 

 

 

 

When Julia isn't crafting amazing veg delicacies, she's selecting choice vintage items like the pom pom hat and Colombian beer t-shirt I'm wearing and selling them through her Etsy site Pickleabra.

Besides Pickleabra, this photo shoot (cred: Sean) also gives me the chance to send a long-overdue shout out to my beloved Laundry Lounge in Midtown. In addition to '80s video games, this chic laundromat offers a genuinely pleasant lounge area with rocking chairs and effing free coffee. It's more of a laundry spa, really. Admittedly, the washers are small and the dryers can be a bit ineffectual, but in a world where real style is such a rarity, I'll take that over substance once in awhile.

The Lounge might truly be a best kept secret, but, y'know, I'm beginning to think I was put on this earth to eradicate such secrets. To that end, I challenge you to show me a cooler place to wash clothes. Seriously, if you can, you get a prize.

Dead Media

Many Atlantans reading this will already be familiar with Brian Dettmer's work. (Never mind that Ceci in Austin brought it to my attention.) It gives me something to think about as I liquidate much of my physical music collection. I like how he shapes the cassettes to emphasize their visual kinship with bones, if only because both are lovely to look at for their own sake. I've had a longstanding affair with cassette tapes, but I think it may finally be coming to a close. Almost.

Here's a link to a neat post on his work. Here's his website.

Stomp and Stammer turned thirteen

The party was last night at Star Bar and it might have been my last show in Atlanta before I move. If that's the case, I'm glad the Barreracudas and the Soulphonics & Ruby Velle were on the bill. The Barreracudas were around 10 to 20 times better than I expected. They have some sweet, juicy garage punk going on. Their jam "Dog Foods" especially got the crowd moving. It might actually be about dog food.

Here is singer Adrian Barrera doing his best impression of John Bender from The Breakfast Club. That's a Personal and the Pizzas badge on his lapel.

 

Ruby Velle was just nuts. I have to see her act live again. All the old soul covers you wish someone would do plus originals. Ms. Velle's voice and charisma are such that you can't help but be bummed Amy Winehouse gets to be famous while our lady remains a best kept secret. (Bear in mind that I have a weakness for horn sections.)

Judi Chicago was cool, if you like getting pelted with glowing orbs and/or Gang of Four's later stuff.

 

Boy, am I ever gonna miss this place.

 

Carnivores!!!

I think this is a fitting post for Halloween. After seeing Carnivores at Vacation Gallery last night for yet another art opening, I now think of the band as a tighter, meatier version of Balkans. It's the bass. And their willingness to break it down just a little before swinging back into some hazy pop notion. Is crooner punk a new genre or do I need to go back to nerd school?

Underwater Tea Party

The full name of this coffee place is Dr. Bombay's Underwater Tea Party. They sell chocolate and white chocolate handlebar mustaches on sticks. I'm sort of fascinated with it right now. They are so hardcore in their approach to whimsy that it becomes surrealist. They also serve ice cream. It's in Candler Park, naturally.

Atlanta has a few so-odd-it-might-actually-have-been-a-dream coffee shops but this one tops even ParkGrounds in Reynoldstown, which is a coffee shop with a patio that opens onto a dog park. It's a strange place to get coffee, especially when you don't have a dog, but it's also a pretty great idea.

Then there's Joe's near the EARL. They have a secret garden in back with a goldfish pond. But, right now, Dr. Bombay's is queen of my heart.

S 'n' M/Rock 'n' Roll

Maybe this is turning into the Vacation Gallery and Boutique blog, but whatever. The rest of Atlanta just needs to step up its game. Vacation just happens to be where Hunx and his Punx was playing. It's also where Zombie Edie Sedgwick hangs out. This is not my fault.

Balkans opened and spread the sweet crooner punk around. They crawl a little deeper under my skin every time I see them.

And then Hunx and His Punx is pretty much the point of everything. As you can see the radness was a little hard to capture on film. That's how intense it was. It was the punkest pop music ever. And the really hot audience members were treated to the kiss of Seth Bogart's dainty leather flail. (Not pictured.) Threesomes were planned during the set. There's an LP out now. I didn't have cash for it so I'll have to take my chances on finding it elsewhere. Still, my life is now complete.

Funnest Art Opening Ever

Check out the show at Vacation Gallery for the next month. Abby Go Go and the hula hoopers probably won't be there but David Bowie playing Scrabble with himself definitely will.

Art!

This art opening promises to be the event of the season and I'm not just saying that because it is the first solo show of an awesome friend. She's been talking about these works for a long time and I'm so excited to see them I might faint before I get within range.

Friday night from 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. at Vacation Gallery and Boutique, 674 A N. Highland Ave.