Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Franz is making a new statement



It was around 3 in the afternoon when Alex Kapranos’s hangover began to wear off. Mr. Kapranos, the lead singer of the Scottish rock band Franz Ferdinand, and his bandmate Nick McCarthy, who plays guitar and keyboards, had spent the previous evening in a refined version of debauchery. They went to a concert — by the British group the Last Shadow Puppets — followed by a late-night feast at the Spotted Pig, the West Village gastropub. Mr. McCarthy capped it off with some dancing at a downtown club, staying out until 5 a.m.
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Now both were sitting at Momofuku Noodle Bar in the East Village, recovering.

“I’m feeling very, very tender,” Mr. Kapranos, 36, said.

“Do you have any tea?” Mr. McCarthy, 34, asked the waitress.

“No hot beverages,” she replied. They ordered water.

The odyssey of a night out, from drug-fueled anticipation to dance-floor frenzy to post-hook-up comedown, is also the subject of the band’s third album, “Tonight: Franz Ferdinand,” released on Tuesday on Domino/Epic Records. On it, the group — which includes Bob Hardy on bass and Paul Thomson on drums — aimed away from the wry, propulsive post-punk that defined its first two records and made its global 2004 hit, “Take Me Out,” an unlikely stadium anthem; even the Yankees used it.

Since then the members have found that their aesthetic — from their high-hat beat to their mod wardrobe — has gone mainstream, especially in Britain, Mr. Kapranos said. “You feel like, right, that’s become so much a part of musical vocabulary of the contemporary band, it’s now a cliché, and you have to leave it,” he said.

So no more “angular guitars,” Mr. McCarthy said, a description that has stuck to the band as surely as their slim-cut suits. (Or their angular haircuts.)

But though the band added more keyboards, bass (“It’s nice to be the lead onstage occasionally, so that I can show off a bit,” Mr. Hardy wrote in an e-mail message), unusual instrumentation, echoes of dub and even an acousticy ballad, “Tonight” will sound familiar to Franz fans, with Mr. Kapranos again singing disco songs about girls and hedonistic behavior.

He has a reputation as a foodie: he met Mr. Hardy when they worked at a Glasgow restaurant, and eventually wrote a food column for The Guardian in Britain. (A collection was released in the United States as a well-received book, “Sound Bites: Eating on Tour With Franz Ferdinand,” in 2006.)

Over an elaborate lunch — kimchi and other pickled vegetables, East and West Coast oysters, pork and shitake mushroom buns, noodle soups and hamachi with beet purée — he and Mr. McCarthy discussed their attempts to sidestep the clichés of postpunk stardom while still making a record people could dance, and debauch themselves, to.

“It’s a mixed blessing when a band gets that much attention early on,” said Jason Bentley, the music director of KCRW, the influential radio station in Santa Monica, Calif., and the host of “Morning Becomes Eclectic.” In 2004 that program, with Nic Harcourt as the host, first featured Franz Ferdinand in the United States. Less than a year later the band was opening the Grammys with “Take Me Out.”

“For a while there, you thought, ‘Are these guys going to go down as a one-hit wonder?’ ” Mr. Bentley said.

Not that they mind having their music back arena-size sporting events. “I always thought it was funny,” Mr. Kapranos said, “because we are the least sporty people in the world.”

Still, “Tonight” is an attempt to regroup as the small Glasgow band the members started, rather than the stylish name brand one they seemed poised to become after their self-titled debut, which had a narrowly defined look and a taut signature sound and sold more than a million copies in the United States.

Monday, January 26, 2009

For Info on Terry Kennedy

Terry Kennedy (commonly known as "Compton Ass Terry", born March 27, 1985) is a professional skateboarder sponsored by Baker Skateboards, Boost Mobile, Venture Trucks, Supra Footwear, and KR3W Clothing. His previous board sponsor was Element Skateboards. He also owns the clothing company. Cutting edge.

Speaking of KIcks and Cool Styles



Supra continues to outfit their pro athletes with great signature shoes. As of late, we’ve seen hot colors in the Supra Terry Kennedy model, and here we feature the lates Supra design, created for pro skater Antuwan Dixon. They sport a low top silhouette along with a solid blue upper and gum sole. Look for more color combinations to drop in the future, while this pair will release on May 1, 2009.

The Cool Kids New Video




The Cool Kids are slowing moving in and out of the hip hop spaced out zone. Sometimes i likey, sometimes i am scratching my head. Now these kids(by now they are adults)have laid back flow with a penny boom bass on this track. The sneaker style is still fresh and we love the throwback fashion and it looks like they have moved from 1988 to 1989 on some beastie boy ish. Where is the rowdy? They cook up dope beats, interesting hooks but lack in subject matter. But they are still cool as hell.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Been a minute

i am letting myself rethink some of my posts. Review my 2008 and go beyond 2009. Lets think about the future possibilities of this blog. Comment!!!

Monday, January 12, 2009

KGB IS IN THE HEEZUSE

THEY REDISCOVERED THE GETO BOYS CLASSIC "DAMN IT FEELS GOOD TO BE A GANGSTER"

http://www.box.net/shared/u6t9hc0uek

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Audition

The auditioning process comes at a point in my life where sometimes you feel you should just get the job but realize it is a competitive market so you need to stay on your game. Currently, i am referenceing my improv audition on Saturday which well,....i am not really sure what the hell will happen. Will we all talk over one another? Who the hell is judging? Should i just be me or a bigger self? my bigger self is annoying but funny as hell. I am supposed to be funny but sometimes the scene is not funny nor does it bring the magic i need to the table at the right time. This year i am starting a VBLOG(very selfish of me but you will see me in my everyday life). Also, i am starting a new blog called MYONEBLACKFRIEND. Trust.

World/Inferno Friendship Society - Mayor Of Bridgewater

the World/Inferno Friendship Society Documentary

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Prince is the New Ryan Adams

Prince will release not one, but three albums in the new year. He's in final negotiations with "a major retailer" to distribute the music in physical form, and a highly interactive website will also provide an opportunity to buy. He's not working with a record label. "The gatekeepers have to change," he said several times throughout the evening.

He's found his way back to the sound of "When Doves Cry." The first disc, tentatively titled "MPLSOUND," is an electro-flavored solo effort recorded at Paisley Park Studios. Prince experimented with Pro Tools and "new ways of recording" on these trippy, experimental pop songs. One features a Q-Tip rap; another calls a "Funky Congregation" to worship and may become a live set piece.

He's ready to revive the Quiet Storm. "We got sick of waiting for Sade to make a new album," he said, introducing Valente's new album, "Elixir." The tracks are chill, with Valente's buttery voice melding with beats by Morris Hayes and Prince's guitar lines. Some are explicitly sexual. "This music is nasty, but it's not dirty," Prince said, explaining how sensual music fits in with his much-discussed faith -- he's a Jehovah's Witness. "There's no profanity. It isn't promoting promiscuity. She's singing about her lover, who could be her partner for life."
[LA Times]

Monday, January 5, 2009

Sunday, January 4, 2009

A Wedding to Remember

After recovering from a well deserved new years and going into last night with my head high, i saw my friends Lissy and Ben get hitched at the Park Synaqogue. It was more of a celebration than anything else. People cried, Australian Chants were made and the posse was on broadway. I slammed out the music that made people dance and Journey was not in the mix. The band played Journey this time. No hate but a little hate. Highlight of the evening involved Lissy and Ben being tossed in the air almost hitting the ceiling from a sheet that Ben's Friends put together. AMAZING.