DOWNLOAD: Junk Culture - West Coast (MP3)

"Junk Culture is a new project by Deepak Mantena, a recent signing to Illegal Art, home of Girl Talk, Steinski, Bran Flakes and more. Junk Culture's debut EP, "West Coast," features sound tapestries created from mixing fractured vocals with pop hooks and samples, all run through a handheld recorder, which gives his constructions a gritty, lo-fi, loop-based sound, and an overall euphoric warmth. Leading up to this release, Deepak would capture field recordings, samples of songs he really liked, and samples of himself playing instruments on a cheap pocket recorder, all of which sounded fresh to his ears. "West Coast" embodies these "fresh" sounds, and employs them for what Deepak describes as "a love letter to outer space -- it gets desperate and schizophrenic as the record plays out, but is a sort of celebration of spirit as a whole." It is essentially Deepak's manifesto of energetic raw sound that transcends rigid genres, and is textural, emotive and compelling."

Some may remember Deepak Mantena from his short stint in 2007 as a Brooklyn Vegan contributor (and a big Animal Collective fan). Check out the self-titled track from his new EP (out October 27, 2009), for free and legal/illegal MP3 download, above. His second still-unnamed EP will follow "in the spring of 2010".

Catch Deepak's label-mate Greg Gillis aka Girl Talk this Sunday, August 23rd, at the Williamsburg Waterfront aka this week's free JellyNYC Pool Party which I (and everyone) predict will be MGMT-packed (unless it rains maybe). Max Tundra and Wiz Khalifa open.

Catch Deepak (Junk Culture) when he opens for Girl Talk at three non-NYC shows in September. Those and other dates are below...

Continue reading "Junk Culture signs to Illegal Art (MP3) +++ Girl Talk Sunday"

Willamette Week's Musicfest NW announces this year's festival line-up which will be held at various venues around the Portland, OR metropolitan area on September 16, 17, 18 & 19. On the heels of the most successful MFNW to date, MFNW 2009 launches with nothing but the hope of a bigger and better festival. MFNW's ultimate aim is to provide Portland with a unique and special musical experience that features all types of acts including nationally renowned artists while still honoring and supporting the special musical scene of the Northwest.

Four-day passes to the fest are on sale now.

The lineup so far, including the newly-reunited Sunny Day Real Estate, is below...

Continue reading "Musicfest NW in Portland, OR (Sept 16-19) - lineup"

a catch up post...

photos by Elizabeth Weinberg

F Yeah Fest took over LA's "Echo, EchoPlex, Rec Center + surrounding locations" at the end of August. Elizabeth was there and took some pictures...

Continue reading "a set of pics from F Yeah Fest 2008 "

You can get tickets for the July 13th "Circle Jerks, Dillinger Four, Japanther, Matt & Kim, Team Robespierre, Monotonix + special guest + comedians TBA" show. You can also still get tickets for the same show happening in Manhattan one day earlier. More details on the tour that kicked off yesterday in Baltimore, HERE.

28 shows in 28 days. June 17th - July 13th

F*%! Yeah Fest is an annual music/comedy/art festival held in Los Angeles at the end of each summer curated by 22 year old Sean Carlson and Keith Morris from The Circle Jerks & Black Flag. This year will be the fifth installment and it will take place in an outdoor setting in downtown LA on August 30th & 31st and will now be known as F Yeah Fest. It's been Carlson's goal for some time now to take the festival on the road, bringing the spirit of the festival to other cities, and now for the first time that dream has become a reality with the first annual F YEAH TOUR '08, featuring many bands and comedians that have become staples / favorites at the festival. The Fest will be touring in a 44 passenger '92 Bluebird Bus. The only goal for this tour is to have fun.

The NYC shows are Circle Jerks, DILLINGER FOUR, Matt & Kim & Team Robespierre @ Highline Ballroom on July 12th (TICKETS), a Monotonix show at a TBA location later that night, and a show at Club Exit in Brooklyn the very next day with every single one of those bands. BrooklynVegan is an official F Yeah tour partner which means we'll be documenting their 28-day adventure in some form or another (stay tuned for exact details). All dates and lineups below.....

Continue reading "F Yeah Tour w/ Matt & Kim, Monotonix, TheDeathSet, Team Robespierre, comedy, THE CIRCLE JERKS and much more....."