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amoeba · arctic monkeys · dum dum girls · hollywood bowl · Music · MW · News · panda bear · smith westerns · sonic boom · tv on the radio · tvotr · warpaint ·

TV on The Radio/Arctic Monkeys at the Hollywood Bowl, Dum Dum Girls at Amoeba

TVOTR at the Hollywood Bowl

Last Friday may have been the first day of autumn, but the last day of summer was a couple of days later on Sunday. That’s when TV on The Radio and Arctic Monkeys co-headlined a killer show at the Hollywood Bowl. The historic venue was built on classical and jazz, and typically only books rock shows on special occasions. People still talk about The Beatles, Stones, and Doors gigs there back in the ’60s. Nowadays it’s Radiohead and Pavement, so it was a big deal when a gang of mostly younger bands took the stage to close out the season.

Smith Westerns, Warpaint, and Panda Bear/Sonic Boom at the Hollywood Bowl

Smith Westerns kicked off the show at the super early hour of six. A tough slot since most fans were probably picking up picnic food at Trader Joe’s on the way to the venue, but the Chicago band powered through a 20-minute sampler of their short-but-solid catalog of proto-glam lo-fi. Pretty cool, but I need to see them at a smaller venue for a real take. Warpaint was next and jammed from the moment the Batcave-like stage spun them to face the crowd until it spun them back. The hometown band was great in it’s trademark folk-meets-goth manner with heavy drums that are as spectacular as the Siouxsie-esque vocals. (I hope the drummer gets a little extra love on the next release…) I caught some of Panda Bear’s set at FYF last year, and this set was way, way better. Two guys behind a table is at least twice as interesting than one to watch, but what if the extra guy is Sonic Boom from Spacemen 3? It was like a passing of the torch from one indietronica/stoner music god from the past to the present. The gorgeous sunset, trippy lights, and post-Beach Boys, dub-infused, analog-tronica made every stoners’ night.

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crack down · News · north korea · protests ·

North Koreans Crack Down on Protests with Syringes

Imagine fighting against the man. You feel like you’re doing great. Making change, helping your fellow comrades, and fighting the injustice of oppression. But then you feel a pinch. It’s not that bad, but then you freeze up and your body locks down. Then, you die. That’s how they do it in North Korea these days. A syringe to the neck and then you’re doomed. You don’t know where it’s coming from, but in a crowd, you’re not safe. (SF Gate – N Korea Syringes)
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car · mini car · News · pixis space · scion · toyota · van ·

Toyota Pixis Space

Digging the two word title? Pixis Space. Obviously it has a tech pixel type of name, and a second word to signify that it’s tiny again? Space. The name is interesting since in Japanese, it’ll be a strange two word mouthful. It’s a tiny car. 660cc engine, so we’re talking just above a go kart, but this is the latest addition to Toyota’s fleet of vehicles and it’s probably going to be popular in the crowded streets of Japan. There’s no need for speed and not everyone will be drifting… Will this be the following Scion car? Is this coming in two years or so, or will this be the next Daihatsu truck that you see cruising around college campuses with custodial gear in the back.  
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altadena · back to the future · bansky · graffiti · japanese american · News · paulings · racism · racist ·

Banksy Goes Back to the Future and Does Anti Japanese American Graffiti

Graf-prankster, Bansky. He kickstarted the Flux Capacitor, jumped in the Delorean with Marty and Doc and went back to the Pasadena, March 1945. He then busted out the stencils and paint and made a political statement that’s racist but thought provoking. Poor folks, they didn’t keep the piece, which is now worth multi millions of dollars. The Paulings family were residents in Altadena, CA and merely hired a recently released Japanese American internee (concentration camp), to be a gardener. They were against Executive Order 9066, which basically put JA’s behind barbed wire and were outspoken about it. They made efforts to bring the graffiti perpetrators to justice but had no such support from the police or FBI. Their gardener, George H. Minaki was thought to have gone to war as part of the 442 Battalion, but no one is sure. It is said that the graffiti artists were involved in a high speed chase fleeing the scene, but got away in their silver sedan when lightning struck the local clock tower at precisely 10:04pm. (Patch - Paulings)  
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