:: EVERY DAY IS A NEW GOODBYE ::

(photos from the Miss Rockaway Armada's time in North Adams, MA)

Going to toot my own horn for a second (cause like my friend says "Who else is gonna do it for you?"). You can see a photo spread of my medium format work from China in the new issue of Death & Taxes. It's a nice mag, with fine design and production quality.

Also this is kind of interesting, seems like the RIAA's era of organized-crime-style extortion may be in for a challenge. Although I have to say it's been a long time since my faith in our justice system had even a scrap of evidence to support it. Hopeful, but not holding my breath.

Here's a video Dark Dark Dark performing at the same backyard BBQ as in the photos above:

MP3:

Wanted something with the right amount of dust and grit in it to match some of the characters in the photos above. This seemed to fit just right.

- The Devil Makes Three - Old Number Seven

A band's place in myspace.

:: WE'D ALL SEEN BETTER DAYS ::

Friday night is a busy night if you like good art. Personal favorites of mine are showing work in three different places all on one night. Get on your bike and get 'er done.

:::

Best and Brightest: The Chief Spring Showcase
FRIDAY, MAY 2nd

7pm-10pm
hosted bar

exhibited photography by:

Jeff Barnett-Winsby
Jaimie Warren
Brad Troemel
Maxim Ryazansky
Santiago Mostyn

music provided by:
DJ Rev McFly

@ The ARM
281 N.7th St & Havemeyer/Meeker
BKNY

:::

Ad Hoc Art proudly presents...

THE THREAT OF CHANCE

starring:
Josh MacPhee
Billy Mode
Chris Stain
The Polaroid Kidd

May 2nd through June 1st, 2008
Opening Reception: Friday, May 2nd, 7pm - 10pm

The Threat of Chance art exposition is based on the temptation of possibility. The possibility of change in the face of stagnation, the possibility of hope in desperate times, the possibility of alternative thought and lifestyle in the doldrums of complacency.

For this installation a railroad shanty town will be recreated to further emphasis the struggle between hope and despair. Amidst a gallery filled of shacks made with found material and walls decorated with freight trains and decaying industry you will find photographs by boxcar culture enthusiast the Polaroid Kidd. Proletarian signs, flags, prints, and banners from author/activist Josh MacPhee. Interactive sculptures, drawings, paintings and stencils, from graffiti artist Billy Mode, and the sociological display of hand cut stencils by Chris Stain. The Threat of Chance art exposition is pure socialist propaganda , (at least that's how the mainstream will see it) , so stop by opening night and they'll tear you a new asshole.

-pollock johnny

Ad Hoc Art
49 Bogart Street
Buzzer 22, Unit 1G
Brooklyn, NY 11206

Afterparty from 10pm until 4am at:

Wreck Room Bar
940 Flushing Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11206

:::

Busy As A Rainbow
Photographs by Lauren Silberman
ICP-Bard MFA Thesis solo show

Reception: Friday May 2nd, 7-11pm

ICP-Bard Studios
24-20 Jackson Ave
Long Island City, NY

Take the E/V train to 23rd St/Ely Ave, the 7 train to 45th Ave/Courthouse Square, or G train to Court Square

:::

MP3:

Wow. When someone uses this song in a movie it's going to be pretty great.

- Band Of Horses - St. Augustine

A band's place in myspace.

:: YOU'RE BUILDING A GHOST TOWN ::

(Monotonix, When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth, Double Dagger, and Power Douglas at Death By Audio this past weekend)

The Monotonix show was pretty fun. I was really curious to see what the TV On The Radio/Dragons Of Zynth collaboration, Power Douglas, would be like. Besides not featuring members from either band at all, it was kind of noisy, jangly, but more than anything it seemed to be a cathartic exercise for two of the members. About midway through their set the bass player grabbed a mic and ranted about the miscarriage of justice (or abortion, if you will) that was the recent Sean Bell verdict. After that it got more chaotic, with him falling into the crowd, and eventually smashing his bass and throwing himself into the drums/drummer. The tension in the room was almost palpable, although it didn't seemed to have anything to do with the crowd. It was more just two extremely expressive and unabashed performers exercising demons and not giving a damn what anyone thought.

MP3:

Double Dagger has been getting some press love just very recently, but these guys have been killing it for a long time. I remember back when they started and most (if not all) of their songs were about graphic design. If you haven't caught them before, and you appreciate something with teeth, don't miss them next time. And if you wear glasses and don't like people messing with them, you might want to put them away during the set. Just sayin'.

- Double Dagger - Luxury Condos For The Poor

- Double Dagger - Form Function

A band's place in myspace.

:: KIDS WITH POWER TOOLS ::

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(photos from Being Here Is Better Than Wishing We'd Stayed, and installation by the Miss Rockaway Armada at Mass MoCA, larger photo gallery of the installation here)

Well we have finally finished our stay and installation at Mass MoCA. Being Here Is Better Than Wishing We’d Stayed is now open through April 2009. We all had a blast, and are extremely grateful to the museum and it’s staff for offering this opportunity. Spending time together with some old, and old-new friends in North Adams was also pretty great. Hopefully I'll have some photos from our non-working moments (and they were just that, moments) to share soon.

Here's a video walkthrough:

And here's Dark Dark Dark performing with Long Gone Gabe at the opening:

MP3:

This was the official/unofficial theme song of the installation, the refrain should sound familiar. The title is also appropriate for this post seeing as I am finally returning to NYC to stay (for a while, anyway).

- Dark Dark Dark - New York Song

A band's place in myspace.

:: COPS ARE CROOKS OF CONVENIENCE ::

Being back in Brooklyn = more parties! And you've got two to chose from tonight (rock VS dance), unless you are of the ambitious do-it-all party-hopper type. I think I am getting too old for that, personally. But I will probably change my mind when it gets warmer and my bike gets less rusty.

:::

From
Chief Mag:
We're having a dance party on Friday!

ZIPCO XXVII (a birthday party)
FRIDAY, April 25th

DJ Teen Wolf
DJ Rev Mcfly

@ Post
172 N.1st & Bedford/Driggs
BKNY

No Cover
Free Whiskey 10-11pm

It's a birthday party for Chief's very own Senior Editor, Mr. Ed Zipco!

:::

====> FRIDAY 4/25 @ DEATH BY AUDIO <====

:: Power Douglas -------> new band w/ dudes from TVOTR & Dragons of Zynth
:::: Monotonix ----------> crazy fúcks from Israel
:::::: When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth
:::::::: Ruined Frame ------> Baltimore, mems New Flesh & Yukon
:::::::::: Lidia Stone

[
DEATH BY AUDIO ]
49 S 2nd St btwn Wythe & Kent | Williamsburg, Brooklyn
L to Bedford, JM to Marcy, G to Metropolitan | 8pm | $7 | ALL AGES

:::

PS. Cops in the Sean Bell case were found not guilty, and the EPA will not be held responsible for it's blatant lies about the safety of the air quality at Ground Zero. Apparently Justice is on Spring Break too.

MP3:

Something more protest-oriented might be better suited considering the two little news bits above, but honestly I'll look for any excuse to post a version of this song.

- Jamie T - A New England

A band's place in myspace.

:: THE CHEEZY SLEAZY ::

A good friend of mine and Ninjasonik frontman, Jahjah, is throwing a weekly over at Happy Endings (previous home of the Shit Hammered party). Now that I am back in NYC, this seems like a good way to get back into the swing of things.

MP3:

Pretty nice remix here, happy and upbeat, good for gettin' your Spring on.

- Dre Skull - I Want You Back

A band's place in myspace.

:: NOT ENOUGH DOUGH TO BUY BREAD ::

My father lives in 10th of Ramadan City, Egypt. We spent a week hanging around his neighborhood.

With the global food crisis at hand, Egypt is certainly feeling the effects. I went to the market to see for myself.

:: ESTRANGED IN EGYPT ::

I was just in Egypt visiting my father and his side of the family. Despite hardly knowing them, they were incredibly loving.

My haaga has trouble staying awake the night I flew in. She married my grandfather after his first wife passed away. I didn't even know she was still alive.

The patch on my Uncle Mohsen's forehead is a result of prayer.

The baby is named Noor, which means light. She is the newest addition to an ever-growing family.

My aunt started a bird coop on the roof of their house.

Roaa is my favorite little cousin. We have no idea what one another is saying so we just laugh a lot.

There are no less than four Mohammeds in my family. This Mohammed is my cousin. He has a very good heart.

:: AND A LITTLE BIT OF ENTROPY ::

(photos from the still-in-progress installation Being Here Is Better Than Wishing We'd Stayed by The Miss Rockaway Armada at Mass MoCA)

It's interesting building things with materials that spiders go running out of when you pick them up.

MP3:

One thing that can be a pain about making posts is all the different things I have to complete (title, photos, content, mp3). Not just a quick little task, ever. So here are some Norwegians that are reminiscent of their geographical neighbors Dungen. Good too.

• Ungdomskulen - Modern Drummer (Final Edit)

A band's place in myspace.

:: WITH YOUR HAUNTED SMILE ::

(photos from a little field trip from Mass MoCA during installation)

We're in the final week of installation at Mass MoCA. The crew is really together, even if we have a mountain of things left to accomplish in time for the Friday opening. No matter what happens, it already looks pretty darn cool. Now just wish me luck teaching myself how to turn slide shows into looping DVDs and we are one step closer.

MP3:

This is one of the bands that shares members with the Miss Rockaway Armada. You can see more of them on the Miss Rockaway blog, and listen to them here.

- Fall Harbor - Memory Dear

A band's place in myspace.

:: GETTIN' SEXY WITHOUT YOU ::

(the second half of Skull By Skull Now, a full gallery can be found here, part of it is VERY 18+/NSFW)

Figure now is as good a time as any to post the list to date, seeing as we are past the halfway mark for our time here at Mass MoCA.

- Being in the museum late at night, when no one's around.
- "Ol' Stabby" stabbing "Knife Knife" at the Sol LeWitt's assistants' welcome party. It was okay though, Knife Knife cleaned up all his own blood.
- George almost getting busted dumpstering at Dunkin' Donuts by a cop who pulled up, but didn't notice him since he was staring intently at the drive-thru menu.
- Exploring very-abandoned building 17.
- Communal meals with live musical accompaniment.
- 3 out of my 10 fingers covered in bandages, and we're only halfway through.
- The next party we attend gets transformed into a dance party at our urging (more like take over), and ends with pouring beer on people and throwing cans. The next day rumors of a girl getting hit with a can and running home crying circulate. They are greatly overstated.
- Sneaking in (with assistance) to see Stephen Malkmus and John Vanderslice perform at the museum. Vanderslice wasn't bad.
- Exploring the hills around town, in a soft drizzle.
- Turns out the artist housing we are staying in is directly across the street from a corner store drug front. A bizarre parade of shadies and a busy back-alley continue outside my window.
- Waiting in line at the hardware store, the man in front of me makes a "fuckin' homos" comment. Then promptly corrects himself with "Oh, yeah, not s'posed to say that out loud anymore, right?"
- Dumpstering in North Adams is pretty much a wholesale bust.
- Rumor of a Tuesday midnight Dunkin Donuts tranny rendezvous turns out to be a rumor after all.
- Being accused of stealing coffee from the Museum's cafe when I stop to add more sugar to the coffee I brought from home in my travel mug.
- Half-price sushi night at Jae's in Williamstown.
- Accidentally bursting in to the Jenny Holzer installation through a side stairwell when the other door we came in through locks behind us. (It was a total "whooooaaaaaa" moment, like opening a door directly into the expansive void of outer space. Okay maybe not that whoa).
- The irony of having a ragtag bunch of artists (us) installing at the same time as a relatively hoity-toity group is here to work on the Sol LeWitt installation.
- Watching documentaries about post-Katrina Mississippi/New Orleans and regretting for the millionth time not going down there right after it happened instead of continuing my travels abroad.
- Holly Hardman, the filmmaker behind Left Behind In Louisiana giving an atrocious Q & A. People walking out in the middle of it.

MP3:

Can't believe I totally forgot to post these guys after seeing them at CMJ. And then forgot AGAIN after SXSW. Sigh. Well we're fixing that now, and to make it up I'm going double.

- Health - Heaven

- Health - Crimewave (Crystal Castles VS Health Remix)

A band's place in myspace.

:: BITIN' SO HARD YOU'RE BREAKIN' TEETH ::

(photos from Skull By Skull Now in Austin, part one of two, gallery to come)

So I am finally catching up with some of the crazy stuff from March in Austin. To the Skidmarxxx credit, this is the first time in the almost four years I've been doing this that I have had to break up something into two posts, that's how awesome it was. This is part one, the bike part. Part two is coming, the backyard moshing and mud wrestling part. Get your pants back on, get comfortable, get ready.

MP3:

I came across this on Said The Gramophone and was quickly reminded how good this guy is.

- Lee Moses - Bad Girl Pt. 1

Not all band's places are in myspace.

:: TIME TO BE POOR AGAIN ::

(The Death Set and Matt & Kim performing at the Lo-Fi in Baltimore, more photos from the show and touring with Matt & Kim here)

It's a funny thing when you realize you are having a discussion with the head curator of a major contemporary art museum, while wearing a t-shirt with lots of penises on it.

MP3:

This is the closest thing to a dedication you're likely to find on here.

- Hush The Many (Heed The Few) - The Knife

A band's place in myspace.

:: I WANT YOU TO COUNT THE WAYS YOU CAN MAKE IT UP TO ME ::

Got together with The Morning Benders last fall and took some photos. They now have a new record coming out and are going on tour with The Kooks.

Oh yeah, they have a new music video and a blog.

:: THE DARING AND DANGEROUS ::

(photos from Slaughterama 5 in Richmond, more photos here)

Slaughterama 5 is up. Only took a few late nights post museum-building-time. Not as much bike stuff in there as I had expected, but way more bands/boxing stuff than I had imagined too. Still working on the installation here at Mass MoCA. It's kind of great to have a neat project to pour myself into along with such an amazing crew of people to work with. Long days and nights, but when there's nothing else you'd rather be doing it's not a bad thing. Went to see Stephen Malkmus (who for some reason was recently on Fox News) and John Vanderslice perform at the museum last night. I met a military photographer in the crowd and got to hear some crazy stories of being embedded during Katrina and two tours of Iraq. Really nice guy, hope he can finish his ten years and get out soon. Okay, back to work. It's communal-cooking-night: burritos!

MP3:

This is another song from the same comp as the last post, the Mauled By Tigers compliation "This was supposed to be a celebration!" I'll have to cap my mp3 selections from this CD before I post the whole damn thing. Or in other words, if you don't have it you're missing out (it's freakin' $5 pp, less than you spent on lunch today probably).

- The Bananas - New Animals

A band's place in myspace.

:: THOSE WERE THE DAYS ::

Did a job where I got to shoot my bros. Here are outtakes.

:: POOR LITTLE SCAVENGER ::

Todd Chandler exploring inside the still-abandoned parts of Mass MoCA.

Down into more decrepitness.

Areas of the still-abandoned sections of Mass MoCA.

Ascending.

View from over the Hoosic River.

Marshall talking over the installation design.

Marshall showing us his monster-man impression.

Kevin carrying cleaned scrap lumber from building 6 to the installation space.

Working late into the night.

View of Fransje Killaars' installation inside the museum late at night.

I escaped from New Orleans, a little worse for wear, traveled down with Matt & Kim to Slaughterama in Richmond, had a blast, and am now working on an installation for three weeks at Mass MoCA. I am here with members of the Miss Rockaway Armanda creating a space that will be on display for a whole year. You can read more about the project here. I'm looking forward to it. Three weeks stationary in one place with a potentially amazing installation to pour myself into, sounds pretty good to me. I'll try to update a bit as we progress, but I'll probably focus on catching up on all the stuff I have yet to post (Slaughterama, Matt & Kim tour, Skull By Skull Now, SXSW). So I dare say you'll have something to look forward to.

MP3:

Hung out with some of the guys in Dynamite Arrows while in Richmond for Slaughterama, made me wish they were playing there. This isn't as good, but it's still fuckin' great.

- Dynamite Arrows - Lady, I'm Fucking Dead

A band's place in myspace.