PINK SKULL IS HEEEEERE! ALBUM DROPS APRIL FOOL'S DAY
Pink Skull is set to release their their much-anticipated album Zeppelin 3 on April 1, 2008 from Free News Projects. This is Pink Skull's first "long-player" and it's an unbelievably awesome record--we're so excited! Zeppelin 3 is Pink Skull's update of the four-on-the-floor sound with quirky tech house, varietal acid, and Faustian instrumentation just trashy enough to keep it freaky, melding dance-floor readiness with krautrock psychedelia. The album features guests Mirah, Daneil Mazone, Billy Dufala of Man Man, Jeremy Gewertz of Jai-Alai Savant and An Albatross, and Boy's Life-r Jon Anderson now of White Whale...and with two whackalicious (yes, I went there) remixes of Plastic Little and Icy Demons. Mastermind Julian Grefe describes Zeppelin 3 "as a tribute to the birth of the electronic music dance subculture in the early nineties… when JG was selling acid and e and we lived in weird rave caves and still went to punk shows… the first time we heard 'Don't Laugh' and the first time we heard Silver Apples blah blah blah. A time when electronic music was new and limitless and a house record didn't have to be between 126 and 130."
Get the first single "Gonzo's Cointreau" now! You can get it on vinyl here or from your friends at iTunes, eMusic, and Rhapsody...
03/09/08
High Priest's "Pitfalls" Video Premieres this Week at Piano's!
SOUND|iNK Records will present the NYC premiere for High Priest's "Pitfalls" this Wednesday, August 15th at Piano's from 7:00-10:00pm.
"Pitfalls" director Asif Mian is a Brooklyn-based artist, illustrator, and video director who has most recently collaborated with M.I.A. and The Roots. He is best known for his breakout video in 2005 for Aesop Rock's "Fast Cars" which earned him music video award nominations from mtvU and the Plug Awards. In 2006, Mian was included in the prestigious Art Director's Club Young Guns Awards .
High Priest (ex-Anti-Pop Consortium, Airborn Audio) released his much-anticipated solo album Born Identity on Brooklyn's SOUND|iNK Records in April 2007. "Pitfalls" is the first music video from the album and sees this hip-hop maverick making a lyrical and visual statement about war. The director says of the video, "'Pitfalls' is about the dark, mysterious spiral of events that take poor, young men from normal life into war."
Check out the trailer here
08/12/07
Plastic Little Gives Birth, Mother Jones and Pitchfork Like to Watch
Damn. The internet is a weird-ass, mystical place...Check out how Plastic Little's new video "Dopeness" fared with The Blogs and one Mother Jones' top ten list, in particular:
Stereogum Ted Passon interviewed!
Shots Ring Out with Ted's doc Remix of the Remix for Current TV!
Dazed Digital Jayson Musson interviewed!
Forkcast via Pitchfork
The Riff Blog via Mother Jones (!)
Philebrity TV via Philebrity
So Much Silence
Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction
15 Minutes to Live
GBH.tv
Urban Outfitters
07/24/07
Plastic Little Premieres Dopeness Video!
Plastic Little and Free News Projects is proud to announce the release of "Dopeness" a music video directed by Ted Passon. “Dopeness” is video #5 of an ongoing video series inspired by Plastic Little’s 2007 release She’s Mature, being compiled for the 2008 release of She’s Mature the MUSICAL!!! The video premieres today at shesmature.com
Synopsis:
Experience a spectacularly surreal hospital visit complete with choreographed Bjorkian candy strip(p)ers, artificial resuscitation, extraordinary costuming, vaginal wigs, and a rare introduction to Plastic Little’s biological parents at the time of their births. It’s all tied together with a Mel Brooks meets Matthew Barney kind of sensibility.
07/19/07
Drizbodia
driz \ dr i zz\
adjective
1. the state of being intoxicated by substances of illegal or semi-illegal nature
2. feeling elated to the point of frenzy and/or public urination
*see also drizholler
Plastic Little are set to release Drizbodia, a digital-only EP featuring remixes of their ghetto platinum single “Crambodia” by Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard and Philadelphia’s super-producer Pink Skull, and the classic but rare single “Drizholler” from Plastic Little’s 2005 debut EP Thug Paradise, available for the first time in a digital format.
“Drizbodia” is the first single off the forthcoming album The Singles, 1979-2009, a best-of collection of never-before released singles, celebrity remixes, songs you may or may not have downloaded already from an MP3 blog, and the winning tracks from the The Remix Of The Remix Of The Remix contest.
The album will be released Fall 2007 by Free News Projects.
05/20/07
Silly Philly Takes Canada
Plastic Little makes the cover of the Montreal Mirror this week (Thanks Rupert!) and heads way north to perform with Thunderheist for some very excited Canadians!...
05/10/07
Public Wall Writing in Philadelphia Book Party...
Check it. Megawords Magazine and Free News Projects are having a book release party for Public Wall Writing in Philadelphia on Wednesday April 4th. The event will be held at the Maysles Institute from 7:00 to 10:00pm.
Audio / visual / sound installations by Megawords Magazine, and copies of Public Wall Writing in Philadelphia will be available to buy for 20 bucks. There will also be a limited number of Megawords Magazine issue 6, which is as always free of cost.
The Maysles Institute is at 343 Lenox Street (127th and Lenox, take the 2 or 3 train to 125th and Lenox and walk two blocks north). Do come!
See reviews of Public Wall Writing in Philadelphia in recent issues of Mass Appeal, Juxtapoz, and an upcoming feature in XLR8R!
04/02/07
Double Trouble @ 205!
This Thursday SOUND|iNK Records and RE:UP Magazine are having a party at LES cool school 205 Club to celebrate the recent releases of two highly-anticipated albums, High Priest's Born Identity and Team Shadetek's Pale Fire. The party will take over 205's two floors, with a mad slew of DJs and live performances from High Priest, Team Shadetek and crew. Plus, we'll be screening Team Shadetek's video for the single "Brooklyn Anthem" and giving away goodie bags to early birds with generous gifts from SOUND|iNK, RE:UP, and Free News Projects. FYI, Free News Project's Max Lawrence designed the beeeeeautiful party flyer. Check out the lion head. Roooooaarrr!!!!
03/26/07
The New York Times Hearts Space 1026
An awesome piece today in the New York Times about the ICA Philadelphia show "Locally Localized Gravity" and more love for Space 1026 than you can shake a stick at. Next up for these realer than real kids at Space 1026, the "No Bad Blood" show, which opens this Friday at he super wonderful Cinders Gallery in Brooklyn. Go for the art, stay to be drawn into the Space 1026 bosom.
03/21/07
Announcing The REMIX OF THE REMIX OF THE REMIX Remix Contest
The ROTROTROTR begins! Calling all deejays, remixers, mash-up artists, breakdancers, art school students, unpaid interns, coffee shop employees, advertising hacks, out-of-work actors, ex-reality show contestants who lost, ex-New Ravers, ex-electroclash fans, and bored parents. Plastic Little has teamed up with Turntable Lab to host a contest with real prizes, including a Serato software package, Turntable Lab goods, and a chance to have your remix included on The Remix of The Remix album, to be released Fall 2007 by Free News Projects. Get the rules, read about the prizes, and download the acapellas on the She's Mature website. Your shit will be judged by our crew of celebrity judges including Ghostface Killah, Spankrock, Cosmo Baker, and even Hot Chip. Now get going! The contest officially starts tomorrow...for inspiration go to the She's Mature Bodega and buy the just-released, full-length DJ Low Budget
Immaturity Mixtape. It's 12 bucks and that includes shipping and handling by a beeeeautiful blonde intern.
03/01/07
Pink Skull Readies New Full-Length Album...(Really)!
Philadelphia's hardest working DJ/Producer team Pink Skull readies their new full-length album to be released this May from Free News/ToneArm. Blog friends have been anticipating its arrival for some time, and it's worth the wait! I'm listening to it obsessively now, and while I can't disclose any of the really juicy details, I can tell you that one of the songs is called "R. Kelly is a Fucking Genius"...'nuff said, right?...and it's just unlike any dance music you will hear this side of Berlin this year. So, in the meantime, satisfy your craving for Pink Skull sprinkles with their most recent mix.
02/19/07
Danger! Danger! House Party
I am so tempted to write, "How many bands does it take to screw in a lightbulb at Philadelphia's Danger! Danger! House?" But I won't. This Friday and Saturday the Danger! Danger! kids are hosting Aquarius Fest '07--a mini-music fest chocked full of 20+ local and touring bands. It should be a sweaty, loud, thrashing pit of fun! My boys Red Rocket are in the house, of course. CMJ's Jason Gastetter has been to Danger! Danger! and lived to tell the tale.
02/16/07
Brazilian Street Art Zeitgeist in NYC!
NYC/São Paulo Collabo! Jonathan Levine Gallery has teamed up with São Paulo's Choque Cultural Gallery to bring eight Brazilian street artists to NYC for a historical cultural exchange and exhibition Ruas de São Paulo: A Survey of Brazilain Street Art featuring artists Boleta, Fêfe, Highgraff, Kboco, Onesto, Speto, Titi Freak, and Zezão. Check out the RAD launch party at Hiro Ballroom on Thursday with Brazilian beats a la DJ Greg Caz, C-TRL Labs VJs, live mural painting, goodies from Alarm Magazine and World Up, and free fancy Brazilian booze, and more, more, more...Thanks Cool Hunting, XLR8R, and Hustler of Culture for spreading the word!
Ruas de São Paulo: A Survey of Brazilain Street Art opens this Saturday at Jonathan Levine Gallery, 529 West 20th Street #9E, NYC, 6:00-9:00pm
02/12/07
Z-Tripping and DrizHollering in Brooklyn
Plastic Little is back in the Big Apple Saturday to start more trouble...
02/01/07
Locally Localized Gravity on Artforum.com
Last week at the ICA Philadelphia opening of their mega-exhibition with a mega-name, Locally Localized Gravity, Space 1026 was in the house in a big way (see more photos here). Artforum's William Pym was at the opening and penned this excellent wrap-up, complete with photos of Thom Lessner, Andrew Jeffrey Wright, and Man Man's Sergei Sogay. And the ever-quotable Maximillian Lawrence of Free News Projects is caught using more four-letter words. I heart Max!
The exhibition Locally Localized Gravity runs through March 25, 2007 at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia
01/26/07
Gutter Butter??? Umm, sure!
Chicago, you lucky bastard. Plastic Little is coming to your town! Friday's show at the Empty Bottle is Plastic Little's Chi-town debut and also happens to be stacked with local heros and heroettes, Kid Sister, Vyle, and the Gutter Butter DJs. Check out Stacey Dugan's totally rad piece "Plastic fantastic" in this week's Time Out Chicago; Graham Sanford's sweeeeet preview of the show for the excellent Gaper's Block; and grrrl-about-town Jessica Hopper chimes in for the Chicago Tribune.
01/25/07
Pink Skull in Jedi Mind Pix!
Check out the Jan/Feb issue of The Fader (with dreamboat Damon Albarn on the cover) and flip to the Jedi Mind Pix section. Cullin Stalin of Baltimore's EXCELLENT TaxLo parties trainspots Pink Skull!!! Remixes of Spank Rock, Man Man, Plastic Little and others will be released in the coming months and Pink Skull's debut full-length album is set for release this spring! And if you happen to be in one of the various cities Julian Grefe will be DJ'ing this winter (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Copenhagen), ask him to play "Blow" and give him a tongue kiss. He'll like that. Thanks Cullin!
01/24/07
Attention All Haters: ?uestlove Endorses Plastic Little
The Roots legend DJ ?uestlove has given She's Mature his stamp of approval via the Okay Player message board where he called it the follow-up to Licensed to Ill and beating out Spank Rock for the (drumroll please) "Coke Rap Un PC Crown" (applause). The man also sent PL a myspace message saying he almost crashed his car in the Holland Tunnel the first time he listened to the album. Now that, my friends, is ?uest-L-O-V-E. Be a lover, not a hater.
01/16/07
Plastic Little and Man Man Show Tonight Plus Pitchfork Weighs In!
Tonight Plastic Little is opening for Philly friends Man Man, and the formidable DJ Low Budget is filling in behind the decks for King Honey who was filling in for SQUID who was...long story...anyway the show is gonna be bananas in that experimental-hip-hop-psychadelic-freak-out kind of way. Not to be missed. And this week Pitchfork weighed in on the Plastic Little album She's Mature, giving it more stars than the new Mos Def (4.5), but less stars than the new Clipse (9.1). That's fine. P 'Lil ain't mad. Writer Sean Fennessey uses brainy words like puerile, confounding, and acerbic in his very insightful and entertaining dissertation. The highlights of the review are many and it's a hell of a good read (I read it while smoking a pipe and drinking a fine glass of port wine) but my favorite observation has to be, "Elsewhere, the springy "Rap O'Clock" (great title), bulging with references to Slytherin and Gondor, sounds like the work of MFA nerds in crescent-moon wizard hats." Wow! Sean Fennessey, will you marry me???
01/05/07
Pat & Melanie Polaroids @ Space 1026
Photographer/couple Pat Graham and Melanie Standage co-direct the London art gallery 96 Gillespie which is dedicated to creating cross-continental dialogues between UK and US artists and providing a space to do that. This is all very romantic because Pat (who is American) and Melanie (who is British) have been working and exhibiting together since 1999. Pat is the photographer who best captured the live performances of America's most loved and influential independent musicians during the 1990's and early 00's - Modest Mouse, Fugazi, Suede, St. Etienne, Air, The Shins, Royal Trux, June of 44, Tortoise, The Sea and Cake, At The Drive-In, Les Savy Fav, Elliot Smith, and more. Melanie is best known in Britain for her unconventional fine art portraits. In this exhibition at the always-enchanting Space 1026, Pat & Melanie present Retrospect, a collection of three separate installations - “Past Perfect,” “The Wildebeest,” and “A Forest” - some of their best-loved work, including over 1000 polaroids. The show opens this Friday, January 5th, 2006 at 1026 Arch Street in Philadelphia.
01/03/07
Les Douches
Friday's release party and show was super fun bananas. Some folks couldn't get inside because it was jam packed and the door guys were being "les douches" (according to Gonzo's text messages). That was a huge bummer, but inside the club was heaving with friends/diehards from Philly and rabid fans/shocked onlookers from New York. Sweatheart brought kids from the (real) School of Rock to play with the band and that was so cute! Those kids were stoked to be jamming in NYC. I would be too. Sweatheart closed their set with a rousing rendition of their PG-13 rated hit Finger Bangin'! Characters from Kid Amercia Club did a 'lil comedy/rap introduction to Plastic Little and then the spot simply blew up. I think I was standing on the merch table, my feet sliding around in some merch, pumping my fists and flinging stickers into the audience. Onstage, it was Plastic Little joined by Amanda Blank, Spankrock, and Diplo while King Honey and Kid America kept things on track in the DJ Booth. Everyone was dancing and rapping along... I'll post photos soon!
11/21/06
Secret Guests Revealed!
Hope you're coming to the release party tonight for She's Mature... The big news is Spankrock and Amanda Blank will be performing with Plastic Little. Woot! Yoaw! Hollar! And so on and so forth... Warning: this show for "mature" audiences only. If you can't be mature, you can't come and you're also grounded for one month. Plus, Plastic Little gets love this week all over the internets.
11/17/06
She's Mature Release Party NYC
Parteeee time!!! This Friday, November 17th, Plastic Little is having a party to celebrate, um...something...Mmm, what is it?...Kidding! The party is to celebrate the release of She's Mature, out now and available before it hits stores (see previous post). And so Plastic Little will be performing live, joined by some super secret special guests (on the hush, TBA). Also performing live, the king and queens of spandex and latex Sweatheart and downtown, mother-approved Kid America Club. Take a nap now. Come to the party on Friday. Bring your boo. See you there. Let's here it for "gallery rap!"
11/13/06
Plastic Little Album Out Now!
It's been a long wait but it's finally here...Plastic Little's new album She's Mature is out of the closet! It took longer than we thought (it was buried under a pile of dirty clothes, an old pair of K-Swiss, and a Trapper Keeper) but it's out NOW! If you order it this week from here you'll also get a free copy of Jayson Musson's must-have 'zine "Too Black For B.E.T. Episode II: The Black Boy George" and stickers! Seriously, friends. Please check out the MP3 section to hear "Bum Rush The Set" featuring Plastic Little, Miss Amanda Blank (The Kelly Bundy of Rap), and Low Bee...Hear what happens when P 'Lil and company steal the mic and "bum rush" the stage.
11/13/06
Banned from VICE!
Plastic Little has been temporarily banned from VICE Magazine...well, at least the funny (and, er, sometimes slightly offensive) ads that have been running in the magazine since the summer. Banishment! by the magazine until a certain hip hop clothing company feels sufficiently disembarressed (is that a word?) or until Plastic Little feels disemabarrassed (it is a word, I looked it up). Anyhoo, for future reference, don't use the name of another company in YOUR ad as a ironic cultural reference. Save that for your blog, agitator!
11/05/06
Tricks + Treats
It's my birthday. It's Halloween. It's CMJ. It's my birthday. Hollar! Two words. Cham. Pagne. Yay! Everybody is dressing up (for my birthday) and my homies, Home Video, are performing (especially for me) at The Annex...
10/31/06
100% Mature
Peep A.D. Amorosi's (totally) awesome feature on Plastic Little, "For Mature Audiences," in this week's Philadelphia City Paper. Long-time supporter A.D. interviews Jayson Musson and the result is pure gold...
10/27/06
Picture Disc Series News
The Long Division picture disc series is in the news, again! First, Coolhunting, my most favorite site on the internets for spotting and reading about awesome things and stuff, posted a great write-up with über-linkage about the series and a snap of the Dalek vs. Blacklisted limited edition picture disc. Thanks Ami Kealoha! Next, the vinyl series made headlines in the Philadelphia City Paper in this week's arts section. Writer Andrew Parks interviews Free News Projects co-founder Max Lawrence, Plastic Little's Jayson Musson, and artists ESPO and Dalek about the series. Furthermore, Max makes an anal sex reference...Woot! Thanks Andrew!!!
10/25/06
Philly Wins This Weekend
Deciding what to do in NYC this weekend? I have an idea. Go to Chinatown. Get on a bus. Go to Philly! There's more than one reason to love Philadelphia and nobody knows that better than my new friends at the music-loving, trash-talking, Philly-repping, party-throwing Philebrity. Starting Thursday, Philebrity throws down and celebrates it's 2nd anniversary with a thing called the Philebrity Weekender. This massive event includes three nights of live music, DJs galore, and a good old-fashioned Saturday block party...You can check out a bunch of the bands that'll be performing on this rad streaming thingie called the Philebrity Player which kicks things off with a little tune called "Rap o'clock" by none other than Plastic Little who will be performing on Saturday at Transit with Yah Mos Def, VIP Party Boys, and DJs Dave P and Crimp Yr Hair. Woot! Get on the bus for reals...
10/12/06
Pink Skull Crashes Guggenheim Party...
Pink Skull (aka Julian S. Process aka Julian Grefe) will be in the house, as in the Guggenheim house, this week for Flavorpill First Fridays at the Gugg following a performance by two instrument-switching-multi-tasking-electro-rocking men known as Ratatat! Prepare yourself for Pink Skull insanity by peeping his new remix of the Spankrock tune "Bump" with Amanda Blank reinvented as an electro-house diva! Also, thanks a bunch to Lynnel at Flavorpill for so much l.o.v.e....xo
BUMP (ft. Amanda Blank) Pink Skull Remix
10/02/06
HOLLAR URB!
The October issue of URB Magazine is a fall cornicopia-thingie of Quiet + Loud goodness. Not only does URB photog Trent McGinn make Plastic Little look like hot, contemplative male models, Brandon Perkins gives She's Mature FOUR stars in his review of the album. Plus Megawords and the Space 1026 book Volume One: Pulling Teeth both get loving write-ups in the front section. Gosh, thanks URB!!! I need a big fat magnet to hold the entire magazine on my fridge.
09/25/06
Pitchfork On Crambodia...
Did Plastic Little drug and kidnap Wu-Tang legend Ghostface Killah? Yeah, what, like on bikes? C'mon, the Wally Champ spit a genius verse on the soon-to-be classic banger "Crambodia," which also features guest vocals from rising femme emcee Amanda Blank. Pitchfork takes a shot, gives some love, adopts a new sub-genre (Gallery Rap!) and reviews the extended 12-inch single version with addtional guests that may or may not have been kidnapped. Thanks Zac Baron!!!
09/25/06