Theophilus London |  Vashtie |  Jesse Boykins

Video By:

Edit/GFX: Andy Blazquez
Director of Photography: Markus Oskarsson
Production: Barbie Bertisch

Special Thanks to:

Overthrow, Sam Baum, Caleb Gauge, Grand Central

The Old 4th Ward

Don’t Give Up  (Cover – The Whitest Boy Alive)

Show Stokeswood some love:

iTunes |  Website |  Facebook |  MySpace

Documented by: Life.is

Directed By: Stian Roenning
Edit & GFX: Andy Blazquez
Camera Artists: Markus Oskarsson & Sam Gualtieri
Location: Studio 1415

Video by: Andy Blazquez & Ingi Larusson
Photography: Stian Roenning
Produced and Styling: Aban Sonia
Hair and Make-up: Naomi Robles
Panic Bomber Manager: Paddy Scaca
Assistant Styling: Brandon Fogel
Production Assistant: Lauren Portilo
Location: Studio 1415
Additional Thanks:
Dead Legend Doors: Stian Roenning & Sam Gualtieri
Authentic Sarajevo Minefield Street Sign: Mike Raveney

Winter Music Friday…  We met with Pirate Stereo to document the making of WMC Safehouse – the ultimate after ultra EP release party. Besides PS, the event featured Dj Santiago Caballero, Chris Schoen and Ayad & Jeff of Passion Pit. Click. Play. Now.

The EP: The Thrive of the Thrill

The new EP (listen/download here) is the first release on their new label, PS Records. We’re liking it and so shall you.

Befriend & Follow:

piratestereo.com | TOTT | Myspace | Facebook | Twitter

Video Credits:

By: Andy & Ingi for Life.is  -   Photography: Markus Oskarsson

Pirate Stereo as Pirate Stereo  -  Legion as Event Producers

Santi as Dj Santiago Caballero  -  Chris as Chris Schoen

Guy at the end of the video  in the crowd as “That guy”

We even made a little teaser!

Pop quiz, hot shot!  What do you do if the album you’ve just finished recording gets leaked all over the internet faster than a picture of a cute kitten with misspelled words on it?

You release the album (streaming) on your own website… mainly out of spite for pirates.

As MGMT states on their site:

Hey everybody, the album leaked, and we wanted you to be able to hear it from us. We wanted to offer it as a free download but that didn’t make sense to anyone but us

At first listen, I can tell this is the type of record that takes a minute to sink into. Not as obvious in the pop dept. as their last go, it almost seems like an album full of fillers until you get to the title track “Congratulations” which not only stands out as an early favorite for me, but also serves as a good example of the type of weird shit that is this album. But again,  I just got my mitts on it, I want to let it sink in. Just think of this as a tap on the shoulder and a point in the right direction.

You can check it out for yourself at:  www.whoismgmt.com

[thnks b! in NY]

The singer of the band is also quoted as saying that “right now, I’m writing music that’s like dancehall meets Steve Reich … I’ve just been recording B-sides, and a song that’s all drums and trains, but it’s more or less pop music. I don’t know if we’ll change our minds, but I’ve been writing a lot of music for bassoon”. While the drummer reveals that their new album is “very 1970, but also quite 1610, 1950, 1979, 1989, 2005 and 2070″… Im beginning to think they’re fucking with our heads.

Their new album, Hidden features their latest single, “We Want War”:

For reference, here is a track from their debut album Beat Pyramid:

Elvis

Turn your crappy computer speakers up, take a break from your jaded and/or unaffected life and allow yourself to be inspired by a weird Icelandic dude that seems to really enjoy beating the crap out of luggage.

Go Do

Go Do (Acoustic)

[via Veronica Gessa's facebook]

Lisztomania

1901

Armistice

Playground Love

Colouring of Pigeons

While listening to the song, I urge you to ponder how the hell it is we come from monkeys. You got about 11 minutes.

You can download the song and read more about the project here.

I don’t usually discover new music on the radio. New music often comes in the form of an iChat transfer from a friend (or ex-gf, whatever the case may be).  Last week was no exception, I heard the little IM “pop” and accepted the transfer for “The High Road” by Broken Bells.   Turns out, “Broken Bells” is the new collaborative project created by Danger Mouse and  James mercer (The Shins). And it’s amazing.

It’s kinda been at the top of my holiday playlist, so I thought I’d pass it along.

I can neither confirm nor deny that the album, set to be released in March, has been leaked in its entirety. For this reason, I can’t confirm that it too is also amaaazing.

Somewhere in Brooklyn, thousands of hipster’s heads exploded at the sound of the “way-too-cool-unless-you-dont-get-it-then-youre-the-one-thats-lame” song by Beck, Devendra Banhart and MGMT. A colaboration that is nothing short of friggin’ strange. I’ll be honest, I haven’t quite solidified my opinion on the song yet, but judging by my past experiences with the music of these artists individually, I’m willing to listen to the weirdness at least ten more times before I inevitably confirm my suspicion that I kinda don’t like it.

Your results may vary.

For reference, here is the original version of the song by Leonard Cohen

Bonus: Beck, Devendra and MGMT cover of Cohen’s Sisters of Mercy

And the original

Opening a Devendra Banhart CD comes with mixed emotions; on the one hand, I’m sure I’ll eventually love it… on the other hand, I know I’ll initially be completely thrown by the weirdness of it all. For this reason, I purposefully held back on the mini review of the new album, “What will be” until it sunk in.

The album was co-produced by Banhart and Paul Butler from “A Band of Bees” – and at first listen, the thing that struck me was the heightened sense of production value in comparison to past albums. While Banhart is no stranger to including a wide range of instruments and vocals in his music, they’ve never quite sounded so clear and polished. But staying true to his peculiar style, there are still those elements of deconstruction and musical tangents that feel improvised throughout this record.

I’ll take a leap and guess that a lot of this record was recorded live with all musicians playing at the same time, instead of track by track like most other music. For this suspicion alone, I recommend checking out the album. But be warned: it’s an acquired taste.

The following are a few videos from a live performance on a show called Later with Jules Holland.

BABY

16th & Valencia, Roxy Music

Saturday nights at Stian Roenning’s Studio 1415 can get pretty interesting, to say the least. This week included a photo shoot with Boston based DJs Pirate Stereo. Also, fish-tank head-dunking, jean-ripping high-kicks and jumping off the top of 12 foot ladders on to a makeshift safety mattress… All in a days work.

In between ladder jumps, we sat down with Pirate Stereo and talked about their music, groupies and the odd requests to play “cumbia” at their gigs.

Myspace: @piratestereo |  Twitter: @piratestereo |  Facebook: Link

Directed/Edited/GFX: Andy Blazquez

Director of Photography: Ingi Lar

Still Photography: Stian Roenning

Creative: Sam Baum

After five minutes of hanging out with Danny Daze, one thing becomes outstandingly clear – This guy IS NOT messing around. Because of a very busy schedule, he hadn’t slept for three days prior to the interview and was leaving to London a few hours after we wrapped. Surprisingly, he remained focused and well-spoken as he shared his thoughts on following his dreams, music and… umm, Dolly Parton?

Artist: Danny Daze  |  Twitter: @dannydaze |  Myspace: @djdannydaze

Director / Editing / GFX: Andy Blazquez
Director of Photography: Ingi Lar
Special Thanks: Bianca Alvarez, Arlette Carlin

The following is a list of interesting covers along with the original version of the song. Some of the songs do not have videos so you’ll have to forgive the cheesy user-generated montages.

Foo Fighters – Baker Street

While the song was originally performed by Gerry Rafferty, I didn’t even know who that was until 5 minutes ago.  What I like the most about the Foo Fighters cover of the song is the way they managed to make a pretty fruity sounding song into something that feels like a staple of 70’s rock music.

The Cover

The Original

Iron & Wine – Such Great Heights

These two versions of the Postal Serivece’s original, Such great Heights seem to compliment each other rather well.

The Cover

The Original

The Flaming Lips – Borderline

This is a cool remake of Madonnas song Borderline, nice video too.

The Cover

The Original

Weezer – Kids (live)

This is a pretty cool performance of MGMT’s original Kids. It’s not mind-blowing, but it is interesting to see older musicians pay tribute to new comers.

The Cover

The Original

Fiona Apple – Across The Universe

It takes some serious balls to cover a Beatles song, and the fact that she didn’t completely ruin this song for me deserves a spot on this list based on that principle alone.

The Cover

The Original

Nirvana – Man who sold the world

Personally, I like both versions of this song. The original Bowie version had it’s creepy charm and Nirvanas version had Kurt eff’ing Corbain. Enough said…

The Cover

The Original

Gary Jules – Mad World

Tears for Fears fans may get upset about the Gary Jules version of Mad World, but if you are a Tears for Fears fan, you have bigger problems then a simple cover. Nonetheless, it’s a pretty good song for those times you feel like contemplating in detail  just how fucked up the world is.

The Cover

The Original

Smashing Pumpkins – Landslide

Writen by Stevie Nicks and performed by Fleetwood Mac, Landslide is one of those songs that makes me nostalgic of a time I didnt even live. Weird how music can have that effect. Couldnt find the studio version of the original, so a live version from 1976 will have to do.

The Cover

The Original

A few years back, Life.is/art writer and all around badass, Stian Roenning got dragged out of bed to interview one of the founders of Punk Rock… Marky Ramone.

The tape remained buried away in Stian’s studio until recently when he remembered: “Oh shit, I think I have an interview with Marky Ramone”

…and sure enough, he did.

In the video they discuss the origins of Punk and what advice he has for young musicians… We even added a few Ramones performances for good measure. Check it out below:

Interview by: Stian Roenning

Shot by: Stian Roenning

Edited by: Andy Blazquez

Here are a few stories and videos from around the internet. We ‘ll learn how Mozart keeps dropping singles from the dead, how Legos help nerds kill time, we’ll get further evidence that Coldplay sucks and prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Trent Reznor is kind of a douche. All in a days work!

- Trent Reznor Quits Twitter (rollingstone.com)

- 23 Songs that lived twice (avclub.com)

- 30 Album covers recreated in Legos (speckyboy.com)

- Coldplay fails at Billie Jean (uproxx.com)

- Two new Mozart pieces discovered (AFP)

- 10 Things The ‘iPod Generation’ Will Never Experience (downtuned.net)

Click here to view the site

Legends typically become legends after they die. Michael Jackson is one example of a guy who was an icon as a child and a full blown legend in his early 20’s. It’s a daunting task to try to imagine all the people that have been inspired by his talent. And yet, I was never a big fan. Sure I liked his music as much as anyone but have never been the kind of guy to be a “fan” of anyone. And so it was… that is until the day I saw Michael Jackson perform live in Sao Paulo, Brazil. My first real concert. That night I screamed, cried, lost my inhibitions and for the first time in 16 years of life, I became a fan.

It was 1993… I was waiting in the middle of a crowd of 200,000. It was eerie to hear absolute silence amongst a crowd so big. Cue the smoke, the lights, and the crowd exploded. With a sudden bang MJ is sprung into the middle of the stage. He stands there, frozen for literally minutes, absorbing the energy from the crowd. Imagine 200,000 people almost fainting and the man has done NOTHING. You could only imagine the crowd when he does his infamous spin-to-leg-kick to cue the song “JAM”.

If only for a minute, I realized what it feels like to not be so jaded. To allow the magic of the moment to take me and as gay as it sounds, I was one with the 200 thousand people in attendance… Nearly fainting as he performed a song I didn’t even like that much to begin with. The concert allowed me to feel an euphoria and sense of admiration I hadn’t yet felt in my detached teenage life. I experienced first hand what it was that made this guy one of the greatest artists of our time.

For all the reasons mentioned above, I will be the first to jump in the hypocritical bandwagon to forget his mistakes and remember him for the positive things he contributed to the world… like the moonwalk and the high funny voice… and owning monkeys named bubbles… and naming a child blanket… You know, the good things.

RIP

Discovering new music is great, but discovering a new legendary musician is even better.   Robi Draco Rosa is one of those legends whose music often lives over everyone’s heads but continues to inspire and deconstruct the meaning of music for those that “get it”.

The following is a collection of songs that have always inspired me.

California

This song is called “California” and is a good example of Rosa’s style. Abstract lyrics set to orchestras of harmonized screams and inspired soundtracks, to say the least. I couldn’t find an official video for this song, so you’ll just have to make due with the fan-made floating image video.

Livin’ La Vida Loca

Don’t ask how, but I was in a room somewhere around 10 years ago and in walks Robi with a guitar in his hand and starts to sing this song to a fellow songwriter to compare notes. A year after that, it was a number one worldwide hit for Ricky Martin. Needless to say the version above sounds a lot like what I heard in that room and nothing like the uber-burnt-out song you all remember.

Blanca Mujer

This song is about a man asking for death… A little harsh, I know… but you have to wonder the extreme mentality one has to be in to write something like this song. So hopeless and so inspired by pain that it is haunting.

Como me acuerdo (live)

This is one of my favorite songs. This version features a Flamenco arrangement that was composed for this concert only. It’s very typical for Rosa to completely re-work song compositions and entire melodies for live concerts. While it keeps the public on it’s toes, one gets the feeling he does this to entertain himself and maintain the passion for his own music.

More Robi Links:
Official Site | YouTube Channel | Twitter