What to Wear During an Orange Alert?

We've Moved!

2009-02-01T06:13:00.000-06:00

That's right, Orange Alert can now be found at orangealert.net. It's an exciting move that will allow us to make the site even better. We will be offering a virtual consignment shop, a forum, a monthly newsletter, and more content then every before. Update your bookmarks and enjoy the ride!

The Watch List

2009-01-31T06:34:00.001-06:00

Listening:
1. Camera: A dark energy rising up from the Chicago suburbs.
2. Staff Benda Bilili: Straight from the Congo, this is like nothing you've heard before.
3. The Golden Filter: This is one of the hottest bands in the country right now. Listen to: Peter, Bjorn & John "Lay It Down" (The Golden Filter Remix) (mp3)

Reading:
1. Kora Issue #1: Zachary C. Bush has his own journal, and it is called Kora. The first issue was great, and I'm sure he will follow it up strong.
2. Errands by Philip Byron Oakes: These are like no errands that I have ever run.
3. The House by Brian Smith: Great opening.
4. nightlightnight by Mark Cunningham & Mel Nichols: This is the latest free e-book from Right Hand Pointing.
5. Punishment by Caroline England: It's all about the things we do to each, and the things we want done.
6. Six Month Check-up by Constance Stadler: I think I've witnessed this very check-up.
7. Swansea Doesn’t Understand You by Dan Gee: This is a Polaroid picture that moves.

Wishing:
1. Mixtape Zine Issue #8 is now available for preorder.
2. Turntable Speaker Mixer: A tiny turntable the plays your music and allows you to scratch!

Getting:
1. Dublab's "Enter The New Era" Calander
2. The Fake Fictions "Laugh Tracks EP": A new free ep from Chicago's fuzz pop trio.

Watching:
1. "Under The Pines" by Bodies of Water
2. "Fell Out of The Sky" by State Shirt
3. "Peanut" by Quitzow
4. Youth:Kill's debut album is coming soon from Chicago's The Secret Life of Sound
5. Jenny Kanzler Interview at Studioscopic

Band of the Week

2009-01-30T07:29:00.002-06:00

Benoit Pioulard

Thomas Meluch is fascinated by many different things, Polaroid pictures, nature, but most importantly he is fascinated by sound. From an earlier age he has been recording the sounds around him and the sounds that he has been able to create himself. His first appearance on a label was in 2004, at the age of 20, on a hometown label called Moodgadget. This also marked the first official appearance of the name Benoit Pioulard. After the release of his first ep Enge, Meluch signed with Chicago's Kranky Records. Releasing two albums and two eps in the next three years, he has continued to experiment with the way pop music sounds.

What makes the music of Benoit Pioulard so interesting are the various layers of field recordings and altered sounds, but what keeps your head moving are the solid pop melodies that lay just below the surface. There is a mystery and a distance in the sound that draws the listen in deeper. He makes you want to dig deeper and investigate the source of this complexity. So, I went straight to the source and asked Thomas a few questions.

Orange Alert (OA): Your latest release, Lee, was recorded just a few months after the passing of Lee Hazelwood. How did you choose “Sundown, Sundown” and did you consider finding someone to sing Nancy Sinatra's part?
Benoit Pioulard (BP): I’d had the notion in my mind for a while to cover a Lee Hazlewood song, and very shortly after he passed I put on the Nancy & Lee record; “Sundown, Sundown” asserted itself into my consciousness for the next several days and I found myself humming its melodies while the vocals rang through my head. To me the lyrics work on two levels – he’s either lamenting a nicknamed lost love or finding comfort in the beauty of things outside the interpersonal, both of which I have done. I didn’t want to replicate the amazing, epic arrangement of the original, however… I thought it best to be a little more interpretive while attempting to convey the same kind of ‘eyes to the horizon’ feel of the song. It did cross my mind to perhaps find a female voice for Nancy’s part, but I figured Trish Keenan would have said no.

OA: Lee was released on black and white vinyl. Do you feel your sound lends itself more to vinyl then say mp3 or cd?
BP: Certainly I have a fondness – even a preference – for analog, so it’s a great thrill to hear my little homemade things coming off of a record. Also I think a certain amount of demand for a vinyl version of the Précis album is what led to Kranky’s decision to release it (and Temper) that way, so it’s great to know people have that same affinity.

OA: Speaking of your sound, it walks a line between lo-fi and jangle pop. I have always wondered what your recording process is like?
BP: Some parts – namely guitar and vocals, usually bass as well – are done in a fairly regimented fashion after lots of rehearsal. But upon beginning to record something I really only have that skeleton in place, so the rest of any given song will arise during the few days that I’m making it, rolling around ideas in my head and so on. The instrumental pieces vary widely in their level of planning; some are assembled from a cache of field recordings and noises I find appealing, while others (“Sweep Generator”, for example) are mostly constructed in my head beforehand. I do my best not to fall into patterns that might yield boredom…this is a selfish project after all.

OA: Both Temper, your latest full-length album and Precis were released on Kranky Records, one of the most under rated label in Chicago. What has your experience been like with Kranky?
BP: From what I understand about the workings of most other labels, I couldn’t be happier to be on Kranky – Joel is the definition of no-nonsense and will never mince words, nor does he make anything even resembling a false promise. There are loads of good reasons the label’s been around for 15 years while so many others come and go. And what still stuns me is that I’ve actually managed to make a few dollars from the albums, which I thought at my scale was unlikely at best.

OA: Your framed Polaroid shot box sets are a great idea. Where did the idea come from and do you feel that fans are more likely to buy this box then the individual albums?
BP: I’ve been utterly fascinated by Polaroid since the first time I saw a shot slide from the gate of my grandpa’s old warhorse camera. Oddly I didn’t get one of my own until I was a teenager, but by the time I found what you might call a ‘voice’ in my recordings, it seemed natural to include some of my shots alongside the music since I’m such a visual person… At a certain point I had a few people asking whether any of the shots were for sale and realized there could actually be a niche market for them. I love the process of selling and sending things directly to people – to me the personal connection is invaluable, hence the handmade album versions etc. With the inconceivable amount of music floating around in the world, I take it as a huge compliment when someone gives any attention at all to mine.

OA: What next for Benoit Pioulard?
BP: I’m looking at a possible springtime tour with Windy & Carl, though there are no details to speak of yet. Around that time I’ve also got a new 7” with a couple of longish songs coming about on Blue Flea Recordings. I’m pretty happy about that one, actually.

"Ragged Tint" from Temper

Bonus Questions:
OA: If you could sit down to coffee with anyone (alive or dead) who would it be?
BP: Werner Herzog.

OA: What was the last great book you have read?
BP: If by ‘great’ you mean ‘classic’, then probably Waiting for the Barbarians by Coetzee. If you just mean ‘awesome’, then it’s Psychogeography by Will Self.

Listen to: Sundown, Sundown (mp3) from Lee, Brown Bess (mp3) from Temper, and Triggering Back (mp3) from Precis

For more information on Benoit Pioulard please visit his website.

Reader Meet Author

2009-01-29T06:22:00.001-06:00

Mary Hamilton

In a city filled with writer's there has to be plenty of stages. This is where a writer can try out new pieces, and get instant reactions and feedback. Who better to set that stage but a fellow writer. They know how to let the reader to get the full experience. One of the more original series in town is called Quickies, and it is co-hosted by Mary Hamilton and Lindsay Hunter. What makes the series unique is its rapid pace brought on by time restraints and size of the pieces. It is a different type of challenge for the reader and that is what makes it so exciting.

Aside from her work with Quickies, Mary Hamilton's work has appeared at Thieves Jargon, decomP, Pindeldyboz, Word Riot, and many more journals. She writes with wit, humor, and a rhythm all her own. She is a strong advocate for Chicago's literary scene, and always wears the most fashionable glasses since she is an optician at Eye Spy Optical.

Recently, she was kind enough to answer a few of our questions.

Orange Alert (OA): So how did the idea of Quickies come about? Are you happy with how the series is going?
Mary Hamilton (MH): The series is great! It's beyond all expectations.

We're pulling together our AWP Spectacular! right now. The readers are all booked and it's blowing my mind just thinking of hearing all of these amazing writers in one night. We always book a few months in advance. Even though my focus is on February, part of my brain is thinking about April. So thinking about the future of Quickies! is pretty invigorating.

Quickies! came about when my co-host and co-founder, Lindsay Hunter and I found ourselves really bored at readings. Not that we didn't love the authors, but I know I have a really short attention span and, as good as the work was, I was bored. So we set a time limit and got victims (er...readers) to join us. We also wanted a showcase for the beauty of very short fiction (I was really annoyed by so many people thinking short shorts were either practice for longer work or a sign of being a lazy writer). And, to be honest, we needed to practice reading out loud.

OA: As a co-founder of a reading series, what is your opinion of the lit scene in Chicago? Is Chicago a good place to be a writer, or does it really matter where you live?
MH: Chicago is an amazing city to be a writer. Not only is the lit scene here really strong and active, but there are so many other sources of inspiration in this city, it blows my mind. But lit scene, yes, very active and, most importantly, extremely supportive. In January alone I think I have 8 readings to attend in my calendar, and two more that I'll be missing because they've been booked on the same night as other readings!

OA: I've heard that some publishers strongly recommend that their writer's maintain a blog. Do you feel that blogging has become an important part of being a successful writer?
MH: I have a blog. I update it about twice a month, but I do enjoy the blogs of other writers and I wish I blogged more. I also think a blog is a fantastic place for a writer to make their work available, especially those of us who publish mainly online. It's a great one-stop resource to find expanded work. In my opinion, the point of writing stories is for people to read them, so why not tell the people where to find your work? Right?

OA: You have been published both in print and on-line, do you feel that one is more legitimate than the other?
MH: To be honest, legitimate is a gross word. My print work was back when I wrote music reviews and the print was freely distributed in urine-scented train stations so it may have really been less "legitimate" than my online work.

I think online journals are a place where writers can be free to experiment and where a huge population of readers can find work. Not all bookstores carry all lit journals but pretty much every Internet goes to the lit websites. This essay by Jason Sanford spells it out pretty well.

OA: Do see the Quickies reading series doing anything in print, an anthology perhaps?
MH: Maybe....

OA: What's next for Mary Hamilton?
MH: Well, I was just noticing that my inbox hasn't had a rejection in a while and then I realized that I don't have anything in the submission process so I guess I'll hunker down and send some work to the wolves. Other than that, I'm trying to pull together a couple of chapbooks (one is dedicated to Theodore Huxtable and the other is a long palindrome) and working on Quickies! which is constant work. I am also going to bake some bread after finishing this email.

Bonus Questions:
OA: If you could sit down to coffee with any other than Theodore Huxtable who would it be?
MH: I have several friends in many corners of the world, so I would like to get them all together for a big group hug. But let's talk famous people: I am sure that if we ever met in real life, Mos Def would realize that he loves me and so I would have to say Mos Def.

OA: What type of music do you enjoy and who are a few of your favorites?
MH: This is a dangerous question. It's like asking me to choose my favorite child.
I am going to make a list:
The Frames, Tricky, Josh Ritter, Girl Talk, Belly, Morrissey, Harry Nilsson, lovers, France Gall, Dr. Dog, Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, Dresden Dolls, Eric B. and Rakim, George Harrison (my favorite Beatle), Jason Anderson, King Khan, Prince, Mason Jennings, T.Rex, Mos Def, Say Hi to Your Mom, Akron Family, Big Digits, and Mic Christopher, Ted Hawkins and old Weezer stuff. I'm also not ashamed to say that I love pop music, bad radio-friendly pop music, so very much. My favorite band/musician at the moment is Soltero.

For more information on Mary Hamilton you can visit her blog.

Artist of the Week

2009-01-28T06:06:00.000-06:00

Kari Kraus

It is one thing to be able to discover in life what you truly love to do, and have the ability and time to do it well. However, to be able to transfer that love and understanding to a student is a whole new set of skills that few possess. In a time when schools are cutting art budgets for sports programs, independent and city run programs are becoming increasingly vital for our youth and our culture. Just as we strive to support the independent artist with need to support the education of the youth on every level. When a child is allowed the opportunity to let their minds focus and create the benefits can be substantial.

In the Western Suburbs there are not too many opportunities for a young artist, but Batavia's Kari Kraus, and everyone at Water Street Studio and the Batavia Artists Association, is making a major difference in her community. In her role of Director of Educator for the center is able to pass down to joy for art to her students. In her personal work she uses fabrics and dyes to create intense patterns and installations. She takes an energetic and creative approach in everything she does, and the result have been incredible.

Recently, Kari was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Orange Alert (OA): Your work with dyes and fabrics are fascinating. Can you talk a little about your process?
Kari Karus (KK): I mix all my dyes from a powder form to create stock solutions, then from there I mix the dyes with other chemicals to prepare the dye bath. In terms of methods used when making my work, I use a lot of Shibori techniques. Shibori is a Japanese term that describes a wide range of resist methods for fabrics. The resists can include folding, twisting, stitching, binding, and compressing the fabric in different ways to create patterning on the surface of the cloth. A method that I use often is arashi. Arashi is a form of Shibori and it means rain/storm in Japanese due to the diagonal wave-like patterning that occurs. Traditionally the fabric is wrapped around a pole, but I do it on a much smaller scale since my pieces are smaller in general.

OA: Is there any way to control the design or appearance of each piece?
KK: You do have control over the final product to some degree, however much of what I do does take on a mind of its own. The technique I use affects the level of control over the end product. For example, if I am stitching into the fabric, then I have more control than if I arashi the fiber. When dying, the type of fiber also affects the end product. Wicking is the way in which the fiber absorbs the dye by means of capillary action. So, basically depending on the fiber, the dye will seep into the resisted areas in different ways and rates that affect the design. I really enjoy that the pieces take on the characteristics of the fiber and that, in combination with my intentions for the piece, make a unique collaboration between artist and medium.

OA: Do you feel that living in a smaller town has hindered your career as an artist in any way?
KK: No, I love being a part of a smaller community. I was born and raised in Batavia, IL. I feel that my life here is so rich and I derive so much of my inspiration from my surroundings. I feel that living here hinders me in no way. Yes, I believe that there are other opportunities elsewhere, but with the Water Street Studios project and my roots here, I just feel really content and grounded. I feel that Batavia is a great middle ground that provides me with balance. Not to mention Chicago is a relatively short commute, it is less than an hour away so I can easily get to the city if need be.

OA: How did you get involved in the Water Street Studios project and what is your role there?
KK: Let me begin by giving a explanation of the goal of the project: We are converting an old industrial warehouse in Batavia into a 16,000 square foot art center equipped with 28 artist studios, classrooms, and gallery space. It will be a fantastic space for artists and the community alike to gather and share in a collective creativity and passion for the arts.
I got involved while attending the annual Art in Your Eye festival in Batavia and walked past a booth for the Batavia Art Center (before we had named ourselves Water Street Studios). At that time I was looking into renting a studio space or possibly partnering with them and the company I worked for at the time. I had been the Assistant Director of a non-profit art school and wanted to expand that brand to this area. After attending a few meetings, I found myself so energized and excited about the project that I wanted to be a part of it in any way possible. When it did not work out for my previous job to partner, I still continued to attend meetings and soon became so active that I was made their Director of Education. Like a dream come true, I was able to begin building our non-profit school of art from the ground up, as one of the founding artists on the project. I currently am operating the art school out of our temporary location at the 160 W. Wilson store. There I recruit teachers, create a schedule, coordinate all of the classes, handle payment and registration, draft the policy and procedures for the school, and market the classes to name a few of my duties.

OA: I’ve heard there is a certain tact and skill that goes into teaching art. The center has only been open for a few months, how do you feel the classes are going and where do you see the center going in the future?
KK: Our temporary location opened on November 25th, so we have only been open a little while but have had success in terms of gaining public attention and awareness. I see the school being quite a success in the future. There is a need in this area for the type of arts education that we will bring to the table. Classes have been going well at the store and we are beginning to gather some great students.

The most successful class for Water Street so far has to be Star Wars. I got the idea to teach a themed art class a few years ago when I noticed that we needed to reach a certain group of kids. I felt that if I could focus a class on something that children (especially boys) liked and were passionate about, then I could grab their attention and show them all that art has to offer. After taking my class, the student can walk away with knowledge of a wide range of artistic techniques. They have also created work about something that they love and enjoy.

OA: What is next for Kari Karus?
KK: I am entirely dedicated to the Water Street Studios project and will continue to work day and night to get the project completed and up and running. The center, which is scheduled to open in May, will be an amazing asset to the community. I would love to get back to making work on a more regular basis as well. The project takes up the majority of my time and that in combination with my regular full time job does not leave a lot of time for creating work, so next for me is making work again!

Bonus Questions:
OA: Do you see the Fox River Valley as having a flourishing art scene? Besides Water Street Studios where could someone look to find it?
KK: I feel that Water Street will help the Fox River Valley become a focal point for the arts in this area. This project is the beginning of Batavia’s renaissance and promises to help put Batavia on the map as a center for the arts. Besides Water Street, there are many small galleries and individual artist studios to see in the area. There is tremendous talent in the Fox River Valley and the art center will begin to bring it all together in a fantastic package and really help generate this collective creativity.

OA: What types of music do you enjoy and who are a few of your favorites?
KK: I really like and am open to a wide range of music styles and artists. I have to say that I really love classic rock, AC/DC and ZZ Top are two favorites from that category, and in addition to that I like, Frank Sinatra, TLC, The Killers, and Bjork.

For more information of Kari Karus please visit her myspace and for more on Water Street Studio please visit their site.

Gallery Watch

2009-01-27T12:16:00.001-06:00

First Things First - Group Show- 111 Minna Gallery (San Fransico)

Running all this month is a group show that I just had to mention briefly. It features both Robert Hardgraves (interview) and Ryan Bubnis (interview) among other intensely creative artists.

A fresh perspective on two-dimensional creations will be represented from the United States, Brazil, Germany, Slovenia and Australia and will encompass painting, collage, architectural design as well as street installations. Consisting of a provocative collection of new works by local and international artists.

Collection assembled by 111 Minna Gallery Curator Gabe Scott, 111 Minna Associate Curator Jay Howell, and Lainya Magana (former Upper Playground Associate Curator).

Advance Warning: Matthew Feyld @ Thinkspace Gallery (Los Angeles)

Matthew Feyld (interview) is one of the most unique artists I've interviewed. He found his unusual style earlier on, and has been able to continue to expand upon his odd shaped figures over the years. His upcoming solo show at Thinkspace Gallery opens on March 13th.

New Release Tuesday

2009-01-27T07:07:00.000-06:00

Music:

American Football - American Football Ep

The Bird and The Bee - Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future Listen to: Polite Dance Song (mp3)

Cotton Jones - Paranoid Cocoon Listen to: Gotta Cheer Up (mp3)

Dan Deacon/Adventure - Split 12"

Lithops - Ye Viols!

Loney Dear - Dear John Listen to: Airport Surroundings (mp3)

Of Montreal - An Eluardian Instance EP

Peasant - On The Ground

Winterpills - Central Chambers

PT Walkley - Mr. Macy Wakes Alone

Dalek - Gutter Tactics

Ethan Rose - Oaks Listen to: On Wheels Rotating (mp3)

DVD:

Special AWP Reading @ The Book Cellar

2009-01-26T11:04:00.000-06:00

In honor of AWP being held here in Chicago, Orange Alert is hosting a special edition of its monthly reading series on February 11th at The Book Cellar. With the great influx of talented writers that will be roaming the streets next month we were able to compile a pretty decent line-up. Here are the details:

Blake Butler (No Colony and Lamination Colony, forthcoming books on Calamari Press and Featherproof)
Barry Graham (Dogzplot, Paper Hero Press)
S. Craig Renfroe (author of the short story collection You Should Get That Looked At and the poetry chapbook Flirting with Ridicule)
Stephanie Kuehnert (author of I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone)
Jason Jordan (editor of decomP Magazine and author of Powering The Devils Circus)
John Domini (author of Earthquake I.D. and A Tomb on the Periphery)
Allison Eir Jenks (author of The Palace of Bones )
Molly Gaudry (Editor, Willows Wept Review, Editor, Willows Wept Press, Co-founding Editor, Twelve Stories, Associate Editor, Keyhole Magazine)
Peter Schwartz (poet, painter, author, editor, publisher, essayist, playwright, humorist, and musician)
Ben Tanzer (author of Most Likely You Go Your Way and I’ll Go Mine and editor of This Zine Will Change Your Life).

This is a free event and it begins at 7:30pm. For a list of all off-site events related to AWP go here.

The Orange Spotlight

2009-01-26T05:59:00.000-06:00

Joshua Michael Stewart Something To Do With Vulnerability (Self-Released, Jan. 2009)

"A wind tucks under his collar and his body tingles. He closes his eyes and these she is: cinnamon and nutmeg in the air."

There is always a level of vulnerability in all forms of writing. Even in the wildest forms of fantasy fiction there are pieces of the writer contained in the smallest of details. When working within the genre of poetry those pieces become chunks of tender realities. The poet can use the poem to get through the most traumatic parts of life and the most romantic all within a few lines of verse. It's a gift and curse, and leaves the poet open and vulnerable. Yet, it is in the raw chucks of words that we find the meat and blood and truth in humanity.

The latest collection of poem from Joshua Michael Stewart deals with one of the most difficult parts of life, the lose of a loved one. What keeps the 37 pages of this collection fresh and interesting are the various perspectives that Stewart is able to focus on. He speaks from the vantage point of a brothers, a son, a spouse, and in one of the most pointed moments, a child. It's a book of memories, and all of the tangible ways our loved ones return in moments of stillness. It is a rummage through the closet, and it has much more than just something to do with vulnerability.

You can order this book through Lulu, but if you order both this collection and his first chapbook Vintage Gray through his website you will save almost $5.

Thing-One You'll Be Fine (Rhythm Method Records, Feb. 10th)

I'm sure I'm not the first , and in fact The Loyal Divide eluded to it last week in their interview, but I am going to declare this the year of pop. What does that mean though? In my mind I see it as a genre of music that represents a pure escape from reality, but with a purpose of pleasure. You can escape with any type of music, but pop seems more innocent and free. It's the beat mixed with repetition that allows the mind and body to break free and dance. As it stands today, we are nation in need of an escape.

So there really isn't a better time to rerelease an album filled with electro-pop bangers entitled "You'll Be Fine" then right now. New Jersey's Thing-One is a four person collective that brings the funk straight to the dance floor in this seven track romp. It all kicks off with the bounce and pulse of "The Kid With Pointy Shoes". It's track with out much thought, but with a chorus and backbone that makes you move. This band has been compared to LCD Sounsystem, White Denim, and !!!, but I find them running closer the flash in the pan group Kasabian from a few years ago with a bit of Helio Sequence mixed in. In fun, contagious, and just enough to make you feel like everything just might be fine.

Listen to: Move It (mp3)

Valentine's Day Giveaway

2009-01-25T14:38:00.002-06:00

Amanda Oaks (interview here) is running a pretty cool and generous giveaway for Valentine's Day. Check out the details below and be sure to visit Verve Bath Press and her shop pretty messes.

HOW TO ENTER:

after going to either one of my shops: verve bath press or pretty messes, please leave a comment to this entry with one of your favorite items or which item inspires you most from either shop!

don't forget to leave your email address so we can notify the lucky winner!

you also have a chance to receive 6 extra entries... just make separate comments for each extra entry bonus, to get extra entries you can:

- receive 1 extra entry for blogging about this giveaway & make a comment with the link
- receive 1 extra entry for adding one of our buttons to your blog
- receive 1 extra entry for subscribing thru email to this blog
- receive 1 extra entry for following this blog
- receive 1 extra entry for following us on twitter
- receive 1 extra entry for following us on facebook

take a peek at our sidebar to carry out all of those as well!

if you already follow or are a subscriber thru email to this blog or are following us on twitter or facebook, let us know with extra comments if you wish to!

please remember to make separate comments for each bonus entry!

my apologies for making it complicated with having you make extra comments! i just want to be able to pull a random number & count down through the comments instead of writing down names & pulling out of a hat! my little one is waaaaay active for me to have the time to do that! :)
winner will be selected at random on MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2nd.

love to you all!

much luck!!

-Amanda Oaks

Orange Alert's Music Minute

2009-01-25T06:24:00.000-06:00

Ann Arbors's Wild Years recently released a new ep called Where'd You Go?, and they are selling them for $3 each on their myspace page. The three song contained on the ep are dark melodic folk tunes that remind me of Page France or perhaps Bowerbirds. They are songs that will make you wish you could do as the cover depicts and lay in a field of grass. When you visit their site you can also find their first ep, A Million Songs, available for free download.

One of the hottest albums right now is the latest from Animal Collective so it is only fitting that the boys from Mexicans With Guns take a stab at it. The song chose to mess with in "My Girl" and they take it too the streets of San Antonio and completely tear it up!

Listen to: Animal Collective - My Girl (Mexicans with Guns Remix) (mp3)

On February 3, 1959 a plane carrying Buddy Holly, J.P. "Big Bopper"Richardson and Ritchie Valens crashed changing the history of rock n' roll. To celebrate and commemorate the way Buddy Holly changed rock n' roll, The Poison Control Center were asked by the Des Moines Register were asked to cover a couple Buddy Holly tunes.

Listen to: Well All Right (mp3)

With a mixture of circus freak instrumentation, booming bass and a mixed bag of samples, Bizzart is an exciting young musician. With his first release for Joyful Noise, "Future Stars And Small Wonders", Arthur Arellanes III (A.K.A Bizzart) combines his spiritual past with his love for beat construction and sound art. "Future Stars..." hits stores on Feb 10, 2009.

Listen to: Android Hearts (mp3)

I am still blown away every time I receive a new update on the colossal rise of Plushgun. Pins & Panzers is their debut full-length album for Tommy Boy Records due on Feb. 17th. Pins & Panzers features cover art by Patrick Smith (http://www.blendfilms.com/), and is the third Plushgun release to feature original credited work by an innovative Brooklyn artist; the other two were done by Yoko Furusho (single for “Dancing in a Minefield,”(http://yokofurusho.com/) and Beth Newell (http://www.bethnewell.net/) who did the self-titled EP art. He has three record release parties in the next few weeks and here are the details.

Plushgun Fanatics 2009 Revelers Agenda:

1/26 New York, NY @ Union Hall w/Kiss Kiss & The Gay Blades
2/18 New York, NY @ Fontana’s – Record Release Party
2/19 Boston, MA @ Harper’s Ferry – Record Release Party

Husband and wife duos have a certain stigma attached to them, but when the husbands name is Frank Black the possibilities seem a little brighter. Tuesday, April 14th, sees the release of 'Petits Fours', the debut album from Grand Duchy, aka Violet Clark and Frank Black (aka Black Francis). Featuring 9 tracks,'Petits Fours' is the joint venture between Clark and Francis, rather than a solo Francis project, and contains driving baselines, a healthy dose of synths and some excellent vocals from Clark,alongside Francis’s trademark guitar squalls.

Petits Fours (Cooking Vinyl Records)
1. Come On Over To My House
2. Lovesick
3. Fort Wayne
4. Seeing Stars
5. Black Suit
6. The Long Song
7. Break The Angels
8. Ermesinde
9. Volcano!

Reigns has always been a mysterious band from the UK, but I was excited to receive word this week about their latest album, their first on Monotreme Records, The House On The Causeway. A blend of hazy and dark atmospherics, they have recorded a nightmare in an abandoned old house. They tell the stories that they found hidden in walls and behind closet doors. The album will be released on March 17th, but we now have an ominous preview of what we can expect.

Listen to: Everything Beyond These Walls Has Been Razed (mp3)

A band that I thought might have been permanently gone has just announced it's return. Suburban Kids with Biblical Names have finished their first new release in over three years time. The glorious return comes in the shape of a four track EP named "#4" that will be released on February 4.

Listen to: 1999 (mp3)

Cadence Weapon is back and he continues to firmly establish his legacy as a pioneer in a passionate crusade to push the rap and electronic music envelope. Separation Anxiety is a new collection of exclusive tracks, remixes, and collaborations available only at his website for whatever price you deem worthy.

The 20 tracks brought together in a 70-minute collection include the Mixmag exclusive Hervé/A-Trak/Cadence Weapon collaboration “Roll With The Winners” and remixes of label-mates The Cansecos and Roots Manuva, and arguably the show-stopper; a remix of Kid Sister's "Damn Girl".

Annuals are on tour again and have teamed up with museum across the country for the "Such Fun" Tour with What Laura Says and Jessica Lee Mayfield. You can check out their tour date and museums involved here, but in the meantime enjoy redesigning their cover art.

Listen to: Confessor (mp3)

The Watch List

2009-01-24T08:32:00.001-06:00

Listening:
1. Cas Kaplan: Newton Upper Falls, Mass, is home to this lo-fi folk bedroom composer. Cas is also a member of the band Daysleeper, but as a solo musician his voices creeps and echoes detailed melodies. You can download his free ep called "At Rest" here.
2. Strand of Oaks: Primarily the work of Pennsylvania's Timothy Showalter, Strand of Oaks just released their latest album Leave Ruin. Listen to: End in Flames (mp3)
3. Valentiger: We are fast approaching the time of year where the name Valentiger seems relavent. They are releasing a new album Power Lines to Electric Times on February 7th so we will be hearing more from them soon.

Reading:
1. Caliope Nerve 18: Another jumbo issue from Nobius Black featuring work from Michael Lee Johnson, David McLean, Gary Beck, Andrew Taylor, and much more.
2. Tuesday Shorts Inauguration Double Feature: You have to read the piece by Molly Gaudry. You should read this one as well.
3. The Only Rational Colour for Mouthwash, or How to Loot by Crispin Best : Crispin is a strange fellow, but I like the way he writes.
4. THE NORMATIVE BUILDING BLOCKS OF MATTER ARE SOMETIMES VALID BUT NEVER TRUE OR FALSE by Colin Bassett: What are the building blocks of matter? Rocks, of course.
5. Crossed Eyed by Matt Maxwell: It's all about the eyes.
6. The Heart Breaks Down Like A Mechanical Device by Howie Good: An interesting concept that is well illustrated here.
7. The 4 Things I Do by Peter Schwartz: A poem about leaving a mark.

Wishing:
1. Dinosaur Jr. custom Toyota Yaris
2. Delirium is a Disease of the Night by Richard Wink: The latest chapbook from Richard Wink.

Getting:
1. Juliet Cook "Horrific Confection": This is Juliet's full-length poetry collection published by BlazeVOX, and it is available for free.
2. AA Issue #2: A very cool art mag.

Watching:
1. Qua "Circles"
2. Anthony and The Johnsons "Epilepsy is Dancing"
3. Loney Dear "Airport Surroundings"
4. Daft Punk vs. Adam Freeland "Aer OBAMA"
5. Joe Pug "Nation of Heat"

Band of the Week

2009-01-22T07:44:00.000-06:00

The Loyal Divide

As a band begins to carve out a sound, play local shows, and release material, the priority is to gain exposure. It seems that the current trend is to allow buzz to take precedent over sales in hopes the sales will follow. In theory it is a sound plan even if the sales come from the next album or the album after that. The fact is that with a market is not only flooded, but dominated by a select few major labels it is increasingly difficult to sell cds. Why not allow fans to listen to you album first? If they enjoy it they may just buy or at least tell a friend, attend a concert, or buy a shirt. The songs themselves are no longer what is most valuable to a band, but merely a tool that can be utilized to gain a broader audience.

Chicago's Loyal Divide recently released a new ep that was over a year in the making. To build an audience, and to give fans an idea of their current direction they posted all of the tracks on their website for fans to listen to. They made it visually appealing, and hopefully left people wanting more. They also team up with the acclaimed RCRD LBL site to allow all of four of the tracks to be stream on their site as well. Labrador is an incredibly dense and danceable ep filled with electronic pop gems, but the question is how many people would have heard it without these steps being made? Loyal Divide is an example of what we can expect to hear coming from Chicago this year, not only sonically, but also creatively.

Recently, The Loyal Divide was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Orange Alert (OA): I recently read a feature story about you guys from 2007 and they
described your sound as Modest Mouse meet The Cure. It seems like a lot has changed in two years, including your address. How has your sound evolved over the last couple years?
Loyal Divide (LD): I think our sound has changed because of widened musical interests.
In retrospect it makes sense that our old songs sounded like Modest Mouse and The Cure because that's the kind of music we grew up with and internalized. Since our move to Chicago, I suspect that we've drifted towards dance music because it provides a convenient soundtrack for public transportation. It's music that you don't have to emotionally commit to. Even though I enjoy their music, I think it would be exhausting to listen to the Arcade Fire, or bands like that,
every time I put my headphones on and stepped on the El. Dance and ambient allow me to zone out, which is a nice option to have. Luomo's Vocal City, and more recently Thomas Fehlmann's Visions of Blah, have been circulating through the band, and I think that Vocal City especially has had a notable impact on our sound. It's a beautiful sounding album, and has taken my focus away from song structures and trained it on sound construction and layering. Hopefully that priority shift helps, rather then hurts, our future songs. Apart from musical influences, I think that the purchase of a sampler has helped to develop our sound. We use a Roland SP-555, which has a lot of cool filters. There actually aren't that many samples on the EP, but it's easy to take an original sound source and degrade the quality to make it sound like a sample.

OA: Your new ep, Labrador, is a great example of serious electro-pop. How long did you guys work on this ep and how did you decide to allow it to be streamed for free on your website and on RCRD LBL?
LD: It took a long time to release this EP, about a year and a half. In all fairness, though, we wrote enough material during that time for an entire album, so if all goes according to plan, we should be releasing a new EP every four or five months with those songs; it's just a
question of developing certain sections and tweaking details. As far as streaming the EP for free on RCRD LBL, that was an easy decision. I think that it's foolish to be too protective of your
music at this point in the game. We need exposure much more than we need money (even though we need that too). So it's really a no brainer to give people free access to our songs.

OA: I really like the design of ep, who designed it and how important is the look of the ep to the overall image of the band?
LD: I think that artwork, and especially cover design, is hugely important. It associates certain colors with the album's songs, which I think partly informs the listener's experience. I suppose a great example would be Loveless. Every time I listen to that album, I see red and pink, which for some reason enhances the tripped out sexiness of the music. I wanted something that looked slick and vibrant, so I spent a long time with my friend, Dave Kowalski, getting the spacing and hues just right; I think that a poorly thought out cover will work against a band trying to get their music heard, especially at this point of anonymity.

OA: You have played many of the venues in Chicago's and I'm not going to ask you to pick your favorite. However, do you feel that there is enough opportunity for a young band to find a stage in the city?
LD: We've never had trouble finding a gig in Chicago, and I think that's true for most bands trying to play out. If you have friends who will come see you and buy drinks, then you have many venue options. We're lucky enough to have a great and very devoted base of friends and fans who will come out to see us, even if it's 20 below, so we've been fortunate in that department.

OA: What your thoughts on the Chicago scene in general?
LD: I'm not really sure what to make of it, because we don't know many bands. My cousin's in Mass Shivers, and I like them a lot, but apart from that we don't know anyone. I'm not sure if that's a comment on the Chicago scene or a comment on how we've isolated ourselves. None of us live very close to Logan Square or Wicker Park, which is where I think any kind of scene might be happening. There's definitely a wealth of talent here, and it's curious to me that more bands don't get national attention. In any case, we've been going to a lot of local shows recently and trying to meet other bands, because when it comes down to it, we want to belong to a creative community that inspires us and fosters us. I suspect it's out there, we just have to
be proactive about finding it.

OA: What's next for Loyal Divide?
LD: We have a new EP coming out within the next four or five months. We are hoping to get picked up by a label, so we are going to devote some energy towards that, along with playing shows and trying to get the word out. I suppose the immediate goal is to quit our day jobs.

Bonus Questions:
OA: If you could sit down to coffee with anyone (alive or dead) who would it be?
LD: Brian Eno; I think that he'd be up for a good conversation about music, which, when it comes down to it, it just about the only thing I'm interested in having a good conversation about.

OA: What was the last great book you have read?
LD: 'I Am Legend' by Robert Matheson. It interests me when a writer or filmmaker takes what's considered a unsophisticated genre and makes something artful out of it. I Am Legend is a novella about vampires, but it's really an engaging and wonderful book. Along with that, I
really enjoyed Chris Ware's 'Jimmy Corrigan...The Smartest Kid on Earth,' which is a graphic novel that takes place in Chicago.

Labrador Ep

Young Blades/Labrador/Lover I Can Tell You/Vision Vision

For more information on The Loyal Divide please visit their website.

Reader Meet Author

2009-01-22T06:34:00.001-06:00

Kate Duva

For many writers, musicians, and artist, these creative endeavors are their passion, but not their full-time jobs. So there may come a time when a line has to be drawn between personal and professional, but where does that line begin and end? When do you stop being a lawyer or teacher or accountant, and start being a writer or artist? What is more important than what you called yourself and when you are known as that is how the things you publish and who it is seen by can impact your full-time job.

Chicago's Kate Duva is a writer, blogger, and collage artist, but she is also a teacher. I always find it interesting to talk with teachers about their creative output because they each seem to have a different take on the limits they may or may not be implied. Kate's work has been published at the2ndhand, Fugue and Flashquake, and she was kind enough to talk with us today.

Orange Alert (OA): Last year you had the opportunity to read with Elizabeth Crane and
Spencer Dew. What was that experience like, and do you enjoy participating in readings?
Kate Duva (KD): It was great. It's a challenge to read out loud, and pause and give weight to every word –you discover the truth about your piece, whether it's bullshit or not. You can hide on the page, but a voice never lies.

OA: Do you feel that Chicago is a good place to be a writer? Are there opportunities out there for writers? Does is it even matter where you live these days?
KD: I was born here – I have no concept of what Chicago is, just as I can't see my own bones. I will say that the cold makes hermits of us, which encourages getting down to work. And when you finally do get out, the fantastic variety of weirdos makes for good material.

OA: I've heard it is almost required by publishers that their writers create blogs. Why did you start blogging and do you feel like it helps you as a writer? Does it help you connect with readers on a different level?
KD: I did it purely for attention, but I can't keep up with it. Promoting yourself is such drudgery. I'd rather spend my time rewriting my stories thirteen times, until they sing. I'm too slow for blogs.

OA: You are also an artist. Is the creative process different when creating visual art as opposed to writing?
KD: I'm lazy about visual art, so it's less of a process for me than a splay that represents a single moment in time. But I think the process for everything is essentially the same, it just unfurls in
different rhythms. It all comes from the Lord.

OA: I've read that you are a teacher. Are you cautious about what you publish as a result?
KD: I'm not cautious about what I publish, but I am cautious about who I tell about my secret life. A century ago schoolmarms had to obey decrees forbidding them from keeping company with men, leaving the house after six p.m., or going out without their petticoats. I know a teacher whose principal "let her go" in 1968 for being pregnant – she was married and this was a public school – and she accepted it as protocol! That pressure to be meek and sexless remains in public
schools, it's just unspoken. So no, I do not bring to the teachers' lounge my stories about hermaphroditic chinchillas and threesomes with cabbies.

OA: What's next for Kate Duva?
KD: Radio! I've done a couple pieces for Vocalo and I'd like to expand on that. As a child I recorded shows with a toy piano, a gong and a cat – I squeezed the cat for sound effects. I'd like to play more with sound, although I have a tiny baby at home who is eating me alive. It's going to be a slow year.

Bonus Questions:
OA: If you could sit down to coffee with anyone (dead or alive) who would it be?
KD: I'd squat down to coffee with my ancestors. I'm fascinated with my ancestors. Or I'd choose my dearly departed dad, although he'd insist on cocktails. I'd take him to karaoke, watch him get sloshed and sing "Everybody Loves Somebody Sometimes."

OA: What type of music do you enjoy and who are a few of your favorites?
KD: Balkan music, especially Turkish or gypsy-inspired: it's the best dance music on the planet! Motown, bachata, bhangra, monk music, and anything psychedelic and high-pitched and melodious. I can dig a little Neil Diamond, some Ol' Dirty Bastard. My children cry when I sing lullabies, incidentally, but are mesmerized by ODB.

For more information on Kate Duva please visit her blog.

Artist of the Week

2009-01-21T07:29:00.002-06:00

Katy Keefe

The word opportunity is about as complex a word as you will find. With our nation's attention thrust in the direction of a man from Chicago, I think about opportunity. Is it something that we wait for? Is it something that leaders or politicians can provide for us? No, it is that window that we open for ourselves. It is that doorway that we build before we can walk through it. It is what we make that allows us to make something of it all.

Chicago artist Katy Keefe is not only creating intense and original pieces of art, but she is also creating many opportunities for herself. Since receiving her BFA from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA, Katy has consistently shown her work in the many galleries around the city including two solo shows. Through experimentation in her work she continues to grow and learn and develop as an artist. She has a great deal planned for 2009, and it all got under way last week at Caro d'Offay Gallery and her two person show with Scott Cowan called "Sandusky".

Recently, Katy was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Orange Alert (OA): What can you tell us about your current show, SANDUSKY, at Caro d'Offay Gallery?
Katy Keefe (KK): Presented by a forgetfulness of Self within the mixed up feelings of freedom, hope, fear, and consciousness, Sandusky brings the distance of the historic past and the unimaginable future to one single point: the present. Artists Scott Cowan and Katy Keefe invite you to a multi-media installation that questions where the dark undercurrent of the political climate stem. In addition, Kelan Phil Cohran, the legendary Chicago space jazz musician infamous for his participation with Sun Ra's Arkestra, will play the Harp from 6-7 P.M.

Upon entering guests are faced with a monumental wall of Moai heads similar to those found on Easter Island dripping with paints of blinding whites and astro-black. The attention is then drawn to the colliding sounds of the intonnations of political speeches, droning frequencies, and the victory of guitar solos. The walls portray a landscape of imagined locations and galaxies, lined with the glitter of gold and silver trees. A rabbit skin tarp hangs above leading to a table of snacks that are free of charge.

As William Black stated, "If the doors of perception were cleansed then everything would appear as it is - infinite". As always, though obviously pressing in the current days of suspicion and anxiety, there is a greatness found in the strength of being powerless; in the dismissal of knowledge there lies the roots of wisdom. There is hope found in that which have the appearance of the absurd and also in a love that is grown with a distaste for self. Sandusky offers a thought on the expectancy of such a mentality - the visitor decides on how it should be carried out.

OA: Is your approach to a two person show different than a solo show? Did you consider the look of Scott's work or his approach in anyway?
KK: Yes, I approach a two person show much differently than a solo show, although this dichotomy is a key element to my artistic process. Where my solo shows are very intense introspective undertakings, these collaborative events offer the complete opposite. Here is where I can relax, experiment with new mediums and processes, but most importantly learn from my show collaborator. My decision to work with Scott was a result of a car ride in Kansas City, but mostly because of his approach to artmaking and the pieces he creates. We approach our work differently, that is true, and probably what allows us to work well together. Mainly though, he and I are on the same page subconsciously, and because we don't have to talk about it, collaborating is completely natural.

OA: Your pinhole photographs are amazing. Your description of the images says that they were "created spontaneously and without control". Can you talk about that process and how you came to work with a pinhole camera?
KK: I have been using a pinhole camera off and on for a few years now just as an alternative to painting, but really got into it this summer when I left the city and moved to Wisconsin; the landscape I was in really inspired these photographs more than anything. And the natural results completely, and for the first time, inspired my watercolors! When I reference creating these photographs spontaneously I am speaking of the camera itself. I literally have no choice but to fall victim to the device; I cannot control the shot since there is no viewfinder, the photographs overlap because the winding mechanism is screwed up, and I don't calculate the exposure time. So I guess its not totally the camera's fault, it is also my lack of knowledge with photographic equipment.

OA: You seem to enjoy changing your media and tools frequently. You have worked with watercolor, graphite and ink, oil paint, mixed media, linen, canvas, paper, and so on. Are you searching for the right platform or is this a certain set of tools for a certain mood? Do you have a preference or feel you work best with a certain combination?
KK: My constant experimentation with medium is both of what you say; I am always searching for a perfect combination of materials, but never want to stop with just one, and my moods and/or subject matter are better dictated through particular tools. For example, the watercolors I did this summer were very light and airy, resulting from work created in a state of complete elation and discovery. Right now the weight of building these bulky plaster heads against a dense forest of pine trees and painting large golden prisms reacts to the onslaught of winter. So yes, everything changes according to what is supposed to be made at that particular moment.

OA: You seem to have had success, but do you feel that there is enough opportunity in the city for a young artist?
KK: There is always too much opportunity in any city, you just need to make it for yourself. In other words, it won't come to you.

OA: What's next for Katy Keefe?
KK: Alot is next actually. I have a painting/watercolor show at the Green Gallery in Milwaukee, WI in March. In April my collaborative/social activist art group will be hosting a Read-A-Thon at Co-Prosperity Sphere where participants will be sponsored to read for X amount of hours in an effort to raise money for Proximity Magazine in the midst of site-specific rooms created by various installation groups. Hopefully in the summer Scott and I will be creating another interactive installation at Golden Age where we will be building chandeliers and throwing a debutante ball. In September I will be showing those pinhole photographs at FlatFile Galleries in the Fotowerk 2009 exhibition. And then, hopefully I'll get into grad school. And probably some other stuff will come up...

Bonus Questions:
OA: If you could sit down to coffee with anyone (dead or alive) who would it be?
KK: I think if I could sit down and have coffee, specifically, I would talk with the person who discovered that you could actually brew and drink coffee and see how that came about. But I would want to have it with him/her in their time, not mine.

OA: What type of music do you enjoy and who are a few of your favorites?
KK: Music changes alot, not really though. I mean I like Bob Dylan alot, Sun Ra, Sam Cooke, Black Sabbath, Donovan, Beyonce's new album sadly enough. You name it.

For more information on Katy Keefe please visit her website.

The Gallery Watch

2009-01-20T10:58:00.000-06:00

Overdrive @ Rotofugi featuring Mcbess and Netherland - Jan. 16th to Feb 1st. (Chicago)

It was only recently that I discovered that Netherland was actually the alias of our very own David van Alphen. I have long been fascinated by his retro collage work. Here is the message from Rotofugi: Our next exhibit is a loosely rock and roll themed affair featuring UK-based illustrator McBess and Chicago-based collage master Netherland (aka David van Alphen, who just happens to be our gallery curator, and fresh off a solo show at M Modern to boot).
Sure, accuse us of a little nepotism, we don't mind, because this show will still MELT YOUR FACE. Period. Both McBess and Netherland will be at the opening. Please come on out and see our new larger gallery make it's debut!

'Misadventures' by Dan-Ah Kim @ Giant Robot - Jan. 10th - Feb. 4th (New York)

Brooklyn painter and designer Dan-Ah Kim creates a universe filled with a foreign but beautiful nature. Here is the note from Giant Robot: Giant Robot is proud to host an art show by Dan-ah Kim, a Brooklyn-based artist and designer who divides time between making art and freelancing in film and television.Of her recent work, the Pratt Institute graduate says she has found inspiration in everything from history and mythology to constellations. Kim mingles such stories and curiosities with her New York surroundings to create multi-layered, highly textured experiences and imagery of new worlds featuring female protagonists and fantastic creatures in heroic, colorful settings.

New Release Tuesday

2009-01-20T07:31:00.000-06:00

Music:

The 1900's - Medium High Listen to: Age of Metals (mp3)

Andrew Bird - Noble Beast

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

Anthony and The Johnson - The Crying Light Listen to: Another World (mp3)

Bon Iver - Blood Bank Listen to: Blood Bank (mp3)

Cash Cash - Take It To The Floor

Graham Lindsey - We Are All Alone In This Together

Matt & Kim - Grand (video)

Blackout Beach - Skin of Evil Listen to: Nineteen, One God, One Dull Star (link) and Cloud of Evil (mp3)

A.C. Newman - Get Guilty

Or, The Whale - Light Poles and Pines

Pattern is Movement - All Together Listen to: Right Away (mp3)

The Naked Hearts - These Knees Listen to: Cat & Mouse (mp3)

Psychic Ills - Mirror Eye Listen to: Fingernail Tea (mp3)

The Republic Tigers - Keep Color

Cut Your Hands Off - You and I

Titus Andronicus - The Airing Of Grievances

Golden Bear - Everest Ep

DVD:

Pigface - Glitch, Son of Glitch

The Orange Spotlight

2009-01-19T06:51:00.001-06:00

Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal Still Human (Kendra Steiner Editions #122, Jan. 2009)

"I am the silence. I am the struggle."

I imagine you would call something a universal work when connections can be made regardless of intention, but perhaps it is just the times we find ourselves in. Up until a few months ago the idea of having to validate the fact that you are human was completely foreign to me. Since I lost job back in November I struggle to look in the mirror, to walk into a store, to get out of bed. I feel lost and forgotten, and the sideways glances, that are completely imagined, seem to twist and turn and drive me right out the door. Yesterday, I stumbled across a blog started this month by Chicago poet Raymond Bianchi called "My Great Recession". He also lost his full-time job, and tries to avoid the odd looks and the confused friends. He is looking for the anger and the answers.

Luis Berriozabal's "Still Human" embraces this cry, but is told through the eyes of a man trapped and rambling in a mental institution. His current state and surroundings make him feel the need to reassure himself and the world that he is still human. He has to prove that he still strives for love, for faith, for freedom, for acknowledgment, for trust, and for reward. He strives to let loose the colors of his blood, and rush free into the arms of security. It is a sentiment and energy that so many can relate to today.

Kendra Steiner Editions #122 was printed in an edition of 49 and I am holding copy number 22, so order your copy today.

Maps of Norway Die Off Songbird (Guilt Ridden Pop, Dec. 29th)

What could a songbird represent? Muse, freedom, a poet, a writer, an artist, a child compelled to invent an expression, all of the things that grow and thrive and die. I'm intrigued by the idea of the songbird, and clearly St. Paul band Maps of Norway is as well. Their second album on Minnesota's Guilt Ridden Pop, Die Off Songbird was released last month. The album features the incredible voice of Rebecca Leigh, who I find myself wanting to compare to a young Natalie Merchant, and it is her voice that carries this eclectic album.

Maps of Norway made their live debut in early 2004 in St. Paul, MN. Formed by drummer Jeff Ball and guitarist Eric Hanson, both previous of Vespertine and bass player Matt Helgeson, late of Unbelievable Jolly Machine, the group was not completed until the addition of vocalist Rebecca Leigh. With songs like "Caged Tiger" and "The Run Out", you can quickly get a feel for sense of urgency and energy contained in this album.

Listen To: The Run Out (mp3) and Strict Ritual (mp3)

Orange Alert's Music Minute

2009-01-18T06:46:00.000-06:00

Created for the Element Skateboards film, This Is My Element, the T.I.M.E. Soundtrack is the first of its kind: an original, artist-composed score crafted to the beat of polyurethane pounding pavement. Here, Anticon's veteran producer and beatsmith Odd Nosdam conceives an album where each song is tailored to fit the style and cadence of the Element rider it accompanies. And on its own, quite simply, this album is a banger.

01) ZONE COASTER
02) T.I.M.E. IN
03) COP CRUSH
04) WE BAD APPLES
05) TRUNK BOMB
06) TOP RANK
07) FLY MODE (mp3)
08) ETHEREAL SLAP
09) ROOT BARK
10) ONE FOR DALLAS
11) ROOT LOOP
12) WIG SMASHER
13) T.I.M.E. OUT

Born in South Korea but raised in Minnesota, Mayda may only be 4'11" but she can pack a punch. I had no expectations as played her debut ep Stereotype, but my gut reaction was to make a connection to Cibo Matto. Not for the obvious reason, but for her creative use of beats. However, as you listen closely you hear and edge and anger that wasn't always present in Cibo Matto. Already featured nationally on The Rachel Ray Show and Good Morning America. 2009 is bound to be a big year with the release of her Stereotype EP and a follow-up full-length on the way. Leaving her excited to bring her fresh, unapologetic voice onto the scene.

Listen t0: Stereotype (mp3)

It's been a little while since I mentioned the work of Evan Voytas. He is the 25 year-old guitar player from LA who has a ghostly way of spinning a melody. You can check out my interview with him here. This week he released two new songs through RCRD LBL, "What Would I Do For That" and "I Live This Live Here For You".

It has been six years since The Bran Flakes released their last full-length album. Now with the resurgence of sample-based music they are returning next month with the release of I Have Hands on Illegal Art (Girl Talk, Steinski). Otis Fodder and Mildred Pittare came together in 1992 amidst tape and zine trading scenes, The Bran Flakes already have seven releases of zany mashups and poppy audio collages that are more likely to cop a riff from Evel Knievel than anything on the current radio dial. Their combinations are fun, light-hearted and always original.

Listen to: Stumble Out Of Bed (mp3) and What It’s All About (mp3)

Ben Kweller is gearing up for the release of his remarkable new album, "Changing Horses," on ATO Records on Feb. 3, 2009. The album is now available for pre-order and Ben is hosting a really cool contest via his official Web site for his fans. Check out the video Ben personally made for the contest and the album where he shows off the record's gorgeous physical qualities (as well as snippets of his spacious backyard)! Ben also appeared on Daytrotter this week.

Dark Was The Night will be released on February 17th, 2009 on 4ad. It's comprised of 31 exclusive tracks and it will be available as a double cd/triple vinyl/download and will benefit the Red Hot Organization - an international charity dedicated to raising money and awareness for HIV and AIDS through popular culture. They are the people responsible for albums including No Alternative, Red Hot and Blue and many more, and this is their 20th year, and this is the 20th release! The album also features tracks from Arcade Fire, Spoon, The National, Sufjan Stevens, Feist, Grizzly Bear, Bon Iver, The Decemberists, The Books & Hose Gonzalez, Iron and Wine, My Morning Jacket, Beirut, Cat Power, The New Pornographers, Yo La Tengo and more!

Listen to: Dirty Projectors & David Byrne - Knotty Pine (mp3)

The Watch List

2009-01-17T08:18:00.002-06:00

Listening:
1. Gospel Gossip: I have found a slew of powerful female singer recently and Sarah Nienaber creeps up on my list a little more each time I listen to her. Gospel Gossip is preparing to release a new EP on my second favorite Minnesota label Guilt Ridden Pop as a follow-up to their debut album Sing into Your Mouth. Listen to: Revolutions in Physic (mp3) from Sing into Your Mouth and Nashville (mp3) from the forthcoming Dreamland Ep
2. Said The Whale: Vancouver is beginning to burst with talent again and Said The Whale is leading the way. Listen to: The City's A Mess (mp3)
3. Zach Lipkins: Downtempo soul with a breathy nearly tropical feel. The best comparison I could make is to Jim Noir.

Reading:
1. Amy Tan by Amelia Gray: Her first collection, AM/PM, will be published by Featherproof Books in February 2009. I can't wait!
2. 400 Words by Albert Maysles: This is a charming story of family and life.
3. Scrapbook of Fatal Accidence by Spencer Dew: Spencer is documenting Chicago one story at time.
4. Beastie Rhythms by TR Deeks: This was found at one of my new favorite journals, My Name Is Mud.
5. Let's get tired of cannibalism! by Justin Taylor: I agree salesmen are killing us.
6. MFA/MFYou Expirience by JA Tyler, Yu-Han Chao, Donald Illich, and Saeed Jones: This is a very interesting journal as they examine the difference in literary experience between a MFA writer and a non-MFA writer.
7. Double Bolted Doors by Sandy Florian: This is written in a language all its own.

8. The Day After by Gareth Storey: Have you ever had one of those nights?

Wishing:
1. Heroes And Heartbreakers by Ryan Bubnis: A line of artist designed toys by kidrobot.
2. Saltgrass Issue #3: Just $5 this journal features work from Mike Young, Kristi Maxwell, and many more. The are now reading submission for issue #4.
3. Wishing that the Vets in this country were treated with the Respect they deserve. Here is an update on Richard Leck and all of the issues that the people who for him are facing. Please read and get involved.

Getting:
1. My favorite old school hip hop blogs, Bust The Facts, is back and very active. They have made several posts this year already and among the best was four Grandmaster Flash albums and a megamix from Bobby Corridor.
2. Wip Issue #3: A new pdf photography magazine. The title stands for Work In Progress.

Watching:
1. Tinyrun "The Making of Lincoln T's"
2. Annuals on Interface
3. Fol Chen " No Wedding Cake"
4. E Reece & Core Elements "How We Do"
5. 2 Poems by Charles P Ries: This is from the incredible new journal Shape of a Box. This is a youtube based lit journal. I'm sure you will see mentioned a lot on the watch list.

Band of the Week

2009-01-16T06:53:00.001-06:00

The Mystery Books

"I closed my eyes and then I opened them, took four sleeping pills and closed them again."

The reason I never ask musicians why they do what do is because the answer is always the same, "Because I have to." I suppose a better question would be, what would you do if you weren't making music? How will you fill your days, or release all that confuses and scares you?
For the man behind The Mystery Books, Riley Fink, it is clearly about the thrill of the project. A few weeks ago I received his album Russia in the mail and what first caught my eye was that Riley has sent me a package and not just his CD. Inside were hand written notes (on orange paper), two cds, and poetry. It was an experience, and the album was a joy to listen to. Riley is a great story teller, and uses quiet acoustic instrumentation to tell his stories.

Recently, Riley was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Orange Alert (OA): You have a released an album called Russia. What can you tell us about this album?
Riley Fink (RF): I can tell you that it has nothing to do with Russia. I put it in quotation marks so that people focus on the word instead of the place. It is not a "concept" album about a country in Europe. It is about what I think of when I think of Russia. I think of a place really far away, that is very isolated and cold and extreme and at the time when I wrote these set of songs I felt isolated and cold and extreme. I felt like "Russia". The music is an acoustic guitar, an upright and electric bass, and an old organ from the 60's. The bass is bowed alot and the organ just comes in every once in awhile.

OA: You are handing out free copies, and also have it available for free download through cllct.com. How did you discover cllct.com, and how did you decide to give away your album for free?
RF: Someone showed me the website cllct.com one day and I thought it was good. I like for people to hear or see things that I do. I don't really know what else to do with my time. If I am promoting something then I have something to do, otherwise I get into habits of sleeping for an entire day or just laying around and feeling bad. That is why I do things that I do. So that I have something to do. I wish that everyone would have things that they created with them all of the time. It would be interesting to hear every one's voices and thoughts. That is the only thing I am interested in with people, I think. It is also fun to give people things. I like giving my cd's to waiters that I have in restaurants or just put it in someones bike basket on the street. I also like to hide them in books at the St. Marks bookstore in New York and at the University of Florida library in Gainesville, Florida.

OA: On Russia you have a song called That Night With the Green Sky that was first a poem by Tao Lin. You are also working on turning a poem by Andy Riverbed into a song. Do you see a connection between poetry and music?
RF: I think that poetry is just a basic format for communicating. It seems like it is like looking into someones mind and seeing something the way that they see it. And when I write lyrics it is almost the same for me as writing a poem. Poems are easier because you can phase things the right way without having to shorten or condense them for the sake of a melody. But I think that it is all basically the same thing. The final result is that you get to pretend like you are someone else for awhile and hopefully they feel better than you do.

OA: Do a lot of your songs begin as poems? What is your song writing process like?
RF: I think that my writing style for songs is that I try to be really vague when I describe my thoughts or feelings and when I write poems it is less vague and more straight forward. It is more of a story I think with poems. My writing process is different for both. With songs I sit down with a guitar and write the lyrics and music at the same time. And with poems I like to sit and stare at a computer and type things and then be distracted for awhile with email or youtube and then write more.

OA: Your lyrics, much like the poems or Tao Lin and Andy Riverbed and many other young poets, seem to center around the idea of boredom. Do you feel that is an accurate assessment?
RF: Yes. We are the "Bored Generation". We are very bored all of the time for some reason. It is a strange thing.

OA: What's next for The Mystery Books?
RF: I am writing songs for an album called "sleep forever". I wrote the title of the album before I wrote any of the songs. I think that most of the songs will be about over sleeping and dreams and sleeping pills. Maybe it will be dedicated to sleeping pills. I think that would be funny.
Maybe we will do that and then maybe we will stop playing. We will just be sleeping all of the time. Maybe we will play more in our dreams. Maybe you will be there in your dream.

Bonus Questions:
OA: If you could sit down to coffee with anyone (alive or dead) who would it be?
RF: I would want to sit down with the Old Dirty Bastard. No. I would want to be walking quickly with the ODB on the side of a country road with no sidewalk. We would be saying things so fast and not even looking at each other. Just at the ground ahead of us. I would like that alot.

OA: What was the last great book you have read?
RF: I read "Honored Guest" by Joy Williams recently. Tao Lin sent it to me in the mail. I read most of it in a park in Florida by my house. I felt like things inside of me were moving around all weird when I was reading that book. It felt good.

For more information on The Mystery Books you should check out their myspace page.

Reader Meet Author

2009-01-15T06:39:00.000-06:00

J.A. Tyler

No matter how long you have been writing or painting or making music, even creative outlets require disciplined attention. You need to set goals and limits as you shift your focus perhaps from hobby to profession. It's true that you can not schedule inspiration or creative, but you can focus harder at certain times or place yourself in a setting to create each day. The important part is that you work on your writing or painting each day regardless of the outcome.

As I look through print and on-line journals the one name that I see more often than any other is that of J.A. Tyler. In 2008, he had 139 stories accepted for publication, and I can only image that number will continue to grow this year. His short fiction is captivating and refreshingly original. In addition to that he runs the lit journal Mud Luscious and ML Press. He is also a web editor for Pindeldyboz, a reviewer for Rural Messengers Press, manager of The Trench: A New Play Development Series, & an editorial intern for Dzanc Books.

Recently, J.A. Tyler was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Orange Alert (OA): The word prolific really doesn't even begin to describe your activity in 2008. You clearly have no problem getting published on-line and in fact you run an on-line journal yourself, but do you feel their is still cache or validity to getting a story or poem in print?
J.A. Tyler (JT): Absolutely. I am honored to be included in any journal, but there is a special thrill to holding the printed page, opening the mail or breaking the binding. cache and validity, most definitely.

OA: How often do you sit down to write? I don't have nearly as much going on as you do, but I have to be very structured with my time. Do you find time management and writing coincide?
JT: I have a word count I try and attend to on a daily basis, 1000 – 1500 words, and I do it basically whenever / wherever I can. between things, before things, after things. if it is a heavy editing day, on the cusp of ml press design proofs, a new mud luscious issue, or other editorial reading, I sometimes push the writing off, but I double it the next day and move ahead. I also teach, so the summer is particularly nice, allows me to structure and manage my time a bit more concretely, several hours in the morning and then on to everything else.

OA: I love the cover of your new chapbook on Achilles, Everyone In This Is Either Dying Or Will Die Or Is Thinking of Death. How did you get involved with Barry and Achilles, and what has the experience been like? Any thoughts on Sam Pink in general are also welcomed?
JT: I had a flash posted with his dogzplot site, and then a short story later on. we emailed and talked writing, and he happened to mention the arrival of paperhero press / the achilles chapbook series. and of course as any good writer does, I read up. I liked the look of what barry was doing, and he liked my work enough to invite me in. from that point on it has been a great collaborative effort – barry has checked in with me on all aspects of editing and design, and he has worked tirelessly to promote and publicize the collection.

as for sam pink and his brilliant cover, I saw the artwork originally posted on his blog and suggested to barry that it would be a fantastic fit with the book. sam ended up creating several for us to choose from, but in the end this original ‘angela lansbury in decay’ was the one.

in terms of sam pink the writer, I am excited to watch his future moves. ml press recently published his piece BE NICE TO EVERYONE and he was a delight to work with – accepting of edits and completely punctual and professional in terms of design. his work has a twist that not everyone enjoys, but I feel that he grows with each new piece he publishes – YUM YUM is more scattered in terms of focus than I AM GOING TO CLONE MYSELF – and no doubt his next extended work will be even greater.

OA: What can you tell us about Someone, Somewhere? I don't see anything on the Ghost Road Press site, when is it scheduled for release?
JT: SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE will be one of two novellas published by ghost road press in 2009. for me, it was a work intended as the biography of a man who hasn’t done anything, accomplished anything, or even lived, but as it grew and expanded it became the story of how lives intersect and connect, how families and their words exist, doubling and re-doubling back on themselves. its official release date is july 2009.

OA: How are things with Mud Luscious? What is the biggest challenge of running an on-line lit journal?
JT: In all honesty, there is no challenge with my work on mud luscious. submissions grow monthly and the pieces we are getting test and push our concepts of language with every issue. and we have now expanded to print with the ml press series – single author, unpublished works of less than 1000 words in a small chapbook form, run in a single limited printing of 50-75 copies each, and released three volumes per month. this has allowed us the phenomenal opportunity to work with and contribute to the writing of such tremendous authors as michael kimball, blake butler, norman lock, brian evenson, shane jones, peter markus, ken sparling, david ohle, and a slew of others. very exciting stuff, all of it.

OA: What's next for J.A. Tyler?
JT: I have two full-length projects finishing up now: GIRL WITH OARS & MAN DYING, a short novel written in flash segments and focusing on last breaths and loss, and MOTHER FATHER BOY GIRL GIRL, a longer novel centered on the strength of a woman who, while building life on the kansas prairie, watches her family members nod in and out like daily sun and wheat. both of these works are in the final stages of writing / re-writing and have excerpts up in several journals (linked at http://www.aboutjatyler.blogspot.com/).

on the editing front I stay busy as an intern for dzanc books, a web editor for pindeldyboz, a reviewer with rural messengers press as well as keeping up with quarterly issues of mud luscious and looking forward to the next six-month stretch of ml press. hectic and good in all aspects.

Bonus Questions:
OA: Coffee? If yes, where can you find the best cup in your area?
JT: yes, yes, yes. the eco-friendly bean cycle here makes a fantastic cup. and the alley cat is open 24-hours a day, so you are never left wanting.

OA: What type of music do you enjoy and who are a few of your favorites?
JT: I am into a little of everything, but right now I am hooked on say hi to your mom, great lake swimmers, jukebox the ghost, kaiser chiefs, kevin devine, and cold war kids.

For more information on J.A. Tyler please visit his website.

Artist of The Week

2009-01-14T02:24:00.002-06:00

Chris Roberts

If you have ever been told that nothing positive comes from hatred then you were lied to. Just ask artist Chris Roberts who has turned his hatred of clowns into a twelve year collection of paintings and illustrations. Regardless of his origins or his motivation, Chris' style has evolved into something that is explosively original. Whether working on a mixed media collage or original painting or a book cover, Chris has managed to put the clowns aside and truly push and explore all that his materials have to offer him.

What first drew me to Chris was his unique and uninhibited approach to creating book covers. He breaks all of the rules, but the outcome is visually appealing and compelling enough that the average person would want to pick up a book he designed (example). I have long felt that it is the artist responsibility to take their training, their inspiration, their hatred and love, and all that they see around them, and filter it through their wildest dreams and imagination. This filtration process will eventually generate something unique and distinctive, and it seems to me that Chris Roberts understands this process perfectly.

Recently, Chris Roberts was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Orange Alert (OA): How would you describe your work?
Chris Roberts (CR): In a word, odd. In more than a word, I'd really like to leave that to those who happen to stumble upon my work. I'd like to think that my work is interesting. I'd like to think that my work is unique. I'd like to think my work is at least something that nobody has ever seen before. But an honest & detached perception of my own work is something I fear I'm totally incapable. Leave it to the end user I say. It's my job to get the images out of my head & on to some surface or other. The rest is up to the viewer. Must I do everything? Well, must I? Wink!

Ultimately I try not to take myself or my work too seriously. Recently came up with a motto of sorts for my freelance company Dead Clown Art. Probably won't go over very well, but here it is: It's Just Art. Wouldn't get me oodles of projects I'm sure, but that's really not why I do what I do. Honest not modest, I think I'm okay at what I do. Just okay. The many artists I flutter & fawn over are truly amazing. I'll never come close to the likes of Dave McKean, Ted McKeever, Henrik Drescher, Ashley Wood, Vincent Chong, Ben Templesmith, Ralph Steadman, etc. But that's okay. I continue to do what I do - hopefully evolving a little along the way - because it's what I'm supposed to be doing.

What was the question again? Let me try another tentacle. My work is guided by the unavoidable collection of weird images bouncing around in my head. These images are compelled by projects I'm working on, random odd-servations of the silly world around me, & every once in awhile a dream that didn't fully abandon my brain from sleep to wake. Or it could just be a wonderful & weird series of accidents. Ideal moment to thank the gods of Accident & Luck. You both rock, & without you, none of this would be possible.

OA: With my interest in literature I have been fascinated by the book covers you have created. They seem unconventional in many ways, but they are so interesting and intense. How do you approach designing a book cover? How did the Ray Bradbury cover come about?
CR: I love to read. Imagine it starts there. I'm fascinated by books. The internet or little electro-gadget pretend-o-books will never replace books. Oh they try, but they fail. Miserably. Why? Because they're not books. It's as simple as that.

I'm glad you enjoy my book covers. I enjoy my book covers. I'd pick up a book with my cover surrounding it. Hell yes. If I, um, wasn't me. But all humility aside, I think the covers I've done for PS Publishing are pretty impressive, & fairly unconventional.

My design approach? After reading the words, I let the images take over. Sort of. I'm not much of a sketch person, but I do take what I suppose you'd call visual notes. Words for pictures for words. Then I just let all of the disjointed words & descriptions & images come together in my head. Edit. Organize. Refine. When I'm ready, I dump it all out on cardboard or wood. Few digital pics or flatbed scans later & I'm finishing it up with my good friend Photoshop.

I think one thing that makes my book covers stand out is that they don't know that they're book covers until they're wrapped around a stack of interesting printed pages. Surprise! They always seem quite pleased though. I don't think about the artwork as 'book cover'. I have absolutely nothing to do with that part of the process. I don't think about sizes & margins & file formats & fonts until I need to. I look at every illustration as simply my visual interpretation of the words provided.

And what fabulous gatherings of words! Will Elliott's The Pilo Family Circus, Sebastien Doubinsky's The Babylonian Trilogy, & Ray Bradbury's A Medicine For Melancholy. Ray freaking Bradbury! I'm not anywhere near worthy. Ideal moment to thank Pete & Nicky Crowther from PS Publishing. You both rock, & without you, none of this would be possible.

So how did the Bradbury cover come about? After completing Babylonian & Pilo covers for PS, Pete emailed me, then called me about doing the cover for the second book of a 2-book deluxe edition of Ray Bradbury's The Day It Rained Forever & A Medicine For Melancholy, signed by both Ray Bradbury & Caitlin Kiernan (introduction), with a 100 copy run. Nearly fell out of my chair after reading the email. Damn near dropped my cell while talking with Pete... BTW, I'd love to have Pete's accent & manner, if that could be arranged.

Okay, that answer is long enough.

OA: How did the name and concept of Dead Clown Art come about?
CR: I hate, strike that, loathe clowns. They creep me the f**k out. Can I say that here? If not, please replace f**k with heck. So I took my hatred, nay loathe-tred of clowns, spun it around in a cotton candy machine for a bit, stretched it on a taffy puller for a time, dressed it wildly in a bright orange wig, puffy clothes, horrid suspenders, enormous shoes & a red rubber nose... then proceeded to beat it to death with a dull-yellow wiffle bat. Too harsh? Possibly. But it's therapeutic, with a delayed comical shock value.

OA: You have entered a few different contests. Do you do this for the competition or is it more for promotional purposes? How do you handle self-promotion of your work?
CR: Neither really. I'm not competitive at all. If pressed I'd pick promotional purposes. Any exposure is good exposure. I've entered every contest that I can recall because, well, it was there. It's really good practice. Here's a problem, solve it. That's what I do. It's almost irresistible. Like throwing a dead chipmunk in front of a wolf & telling it not to eat it. Come on! It's a dead chipmunk for piss sake! Each contest I've entered has been an exercise. Never expected to win any of them going in, & never did. Not important. Just wanted to solve the problem.

Self promotion? Emails & postcards to unsuspecting art directors. Interviews like this. Getting my work in front of as many people as possible. That's always worked for me... that & a big yummy chunk of luck. Hey, check out my online portfolio - has been surprisingly effective. Here's what I've done, now let's see what I can do for you. Repeat as needed. Stir briskly. Serve chilled.

If an art director likes my site, the work that I've done, thinks I can add some value to whatever it is they're doing, great. If not, no worries, thanks for your time & consideration. Peace out.

OA: You are also a writer. How is the process or release different when writing a poem as opposed to painting or designing a piece?
CR: Not all that different really. I've never thought of myself as a writer. Just now getting comfortable with thinking of myself as an artist. Labels. Whatever pops into my head that needs rough passage to surface, is handled pretty much the same way. I look at my writing as stuff I didn't think I could effectively translate into an illustration or painting. My writing has the same awareness as my artwork. It knows more than I know. Spooky, huh?

It's taking all of the assembled pieces & putting them into an order. Not necessarily a desirable order. An often bizarre order, yes. But an order that I saw in my head, then moved in whatever format to external surface, so that everybody else could see it.

Like it or hate it. There it is. No matter the medium. Something that wasn't there before.

OA: What's next for Chris Roberts?
CR: Waiting for that next project. I'd love to work with Pete & Nicky at PS Publishing again. They seem to like what I've given them so far, so hopefully I'll be hearing from them shortly.
I have the infant pieces of an odd children's book floating around just behind my eyes. I'd like to paint more in 2009. A resolution of sorts. Larger format stuff. Possibly put together a solo show somewhere. Your guess is as good as mine. I do know that I'll continue to adore my supporting, patient & way-too-hot-for-me wife; & spoil silly our smart & pretty daughter. Two of my wonderful constants.

Bonus Questions:

OA: Coffee? If yes, where is the best place to get a cup in Des Moines?
CR: Yes. I'd say Friedrich's Coffee. Good coffee. Good people. Good atmosphere.

OA: What type of music do you enjoy and who are a few of your favorites?
CR: If I had to slap a label on it, probably Alternative. 98% of radio music makes me want to hurl, slit my wrists, or both. Don't get me started on MTV & VH1. Dang. Okay...

Best band ever: Radiohead. And anyone who thinks otherwise is totally wrong.
Damien Rice. Portishead. Cold War Kids. Jesca Hoop. Tori Amos. NIN. The Tragically Hip. Sia. The Cure. Fiona Apple. Blur. Tool. Okay, that's all I can think of right now.

For more information on Chris Roberts please visit his website.

The Bird Room Competition

2009-01-13T10:36:00.003-06:00

The Bird Room will be released by Canongate Books on January 22, 2009, but in the meantime Chris Killen (interview here) is running a competition to giveaway his copies.

Here are the details:
Send me an email (chriskillen [AT] gmail.com) with the word 'competition' somewhere in the subject line. Include your address, and say whether you want me to write/draw something in it and (if so) what you would like me to write/draw. Please understand that i am rubbish at drawing. if you don't specify anything, I will just sign my name and draw a picture of a bird in the top right hand corner.

Also in the email, please include one 'line of poetry'. It doesn't need to be any good, it could be very abstract, but make it something specific enough that you will recognise it again ... once the competition is 'closed' (i don't know, a week from now?), I will put up a video on here of me pulling the lines of the poem out of something, to create a 10-line cut up poem. If i read your line, that means there is a book in the post to you.

The competition is open to anyone in the world.

The competition is perfect if you are thinking something like, 'The Bird Room looks interesting, maybe, but i would not want to pay for it' or 'i can't afford it' or 'i have been openly slating it and Chris Killen as a one-trick-pony hack who got lucky (but secretly i would like to read it)' or 'i don't know, i'm bored, why not' or 'i could tear the pages out and wipe my a** with them' or 'okay then; i could give this in to Oxfam if i hate it'.

I hope the instructions weren't too confusing.

Gallery Watch

2009-01-13T06:10:00.001-06:00

Under The Influence: The Official Art Tribute to Beastie Boys - January 8 - 29, 2009 (Los Angeles)

Opening last week at Gallery 1988 Los Angeles, Under The Influence is an exploration and examination of the many varied themes that have filled the legend that is the Beastie Boys. From the Brass Monkey to the girls to the robots and fake mustaches, it is all presented by 100 amazing artists. Included in the collection are three former Orange Alert featured artists Mike Maxwell, Leanne Biank, and Tony Philippou.

Not only are these some of the most inventive and fun paintings that I have seen in a while, but a potion of the proceeds from this exhibit will benefit the Gramercy Housing Group. Other artist involved include Shepard Fairey, Ruel Pascual, Ben Walker, and many more. You can view all of the images here.

Sandusky - Jan. 17 - 31, 2009 - Scott Cowan and Katy Keefe (Chicago)

Scott Cowan & Katy Keefe have an interesting exhibit opening this weekend at Caro d'Offay Gallery (2204 W. North Avenue). Presented by a forgetfulness of Self within the mixed up feelings of freedom, hope, fear, and consciousness, Sandusky brings the distance of the historic past and the unimaginable future to one single point: the present.

Upon entering guests are faced with a monumental wall of Moai heads similar to those found on Easter Island dripping with paints of blinding whites and astro-black. The attention is then drawn to the colliding sounds of the intonnations of political speeches, droning frequencies, and the victory of guitar solos. The walls portray a landscape of imagined locations and galaxies, lined with the glitter of gold and silver trees. A rabbit skin tarp hangs above leading to a table of snacks that are free of charge.

As William Black stated, "If the doors of perception were cleansed then everything would appear as it is - infinite". As always, though obviously pressing in the current days of suspicion and anxiety, there is an greatness found in the strength of being powerless; in the dismissal of knowledge there lies the roots of wisdom. There is hope found in that which have the appearance of the absurd and also in a love that is grown with a distaste for self. Sandusky offers a thought on the expectancy of such a mentality - the visitor decides on how it should be carried out.

The Orange Spotlight

2009-01-12T08:29:00.000-06:00

Howie Good Tommowland (Achilles Chapbook Series, Dec. 1st)

"The future will be just like the present - so cold it burns."

The art of flash fiction, when trimmed and compacted properly, can be a powerful tool in a fast-paced world. Similar to poetry, flash fiction focuses on the essence of the story, the essence of language, and allows the mind of the reader to fill in all of the other details. In fact, it would not be a stretch to say that the writer challenges himself more to tell a story in a flash, then in a full and fluent story. To express what you have observed, what you feel, in the matter of a few sentence is the true nature of the craft.

If stripping down your thoughts is the nature of the craft then Howie Good is a master craftsman. In Tomorrowland he offers up 23 glimpses at life in an array of situations. From the father driving down the road with his daughter to the stream of consciousness of an injuries youth. He presents pictures both bright and warm, and dark and grim. Yet, through it all there is an odd sense of hope that flicker and fades, but remains despite it all.

Tomorrowland is the third chapbook in the refreshing new series that was started in October by Achilles Chapbook Series.

Mr. Bear These Machines (Thru and Thru, Jan. 13th)

New to the Chicago scene is Little Rock product and multi-instrumentalist Mr. Bear (aka Jack Bishop). After moving to Chicago to attend school he was quickly picked up by the new Minnesota/Chicago label Thru & Thru Records. His first release on Thru and Thru is actually his second full-length album, "These Machines". A mixture of horns and twirling folk romps, These Machines is a mixture of Sufjan Stevens and Beirut which when blended it becomes an exciting style all it's own.

Beneath the joyous musical configurations lays lyrics that are surprisingly complex for such a young songwriter. He writes with an old soul, but adds the right amount of humor and imagination. He also plays with passion and energy, and in fact, from trumpet to banjo, Bishop plays most of the instruments on These Machines himself. This album is a remarkable collection of thoughts, and hopefully it will get the attention it deserves.

01. Disaster, Be The Matchmaker (mp3)
02. Rubber Duckies
03. Jump Ship
04. How Tasty (Are The White)
05. Big Foot Walks (video)
06. The Creeps
07. Put Your Glasses On(Interlude)
08. Objects Unidentified
09. Dead Orchids, Hungry Toads
10. This Beard Is A Symbol (For The Man I Am)
11. The Wolf Man's Sad Song
12. A Chosen Few, Pump Our Fists and Be Proud!

Orange Alert's Music Minute

2009-01-11T06:09:00.003-06:00

Ryland Bouchard is probably better known as The Robot Ate Me, but for his latest release Seeds he returns to using his given name. He actually retired the name in 2007 when he began working the ambitious project that Seeds has become. This album was written and recorded by Ryland Bouchard and Kevin Michael Mayfield between October 2007 and August 2008 on a 1971 Stephens Electronics 2416 console and an Otari MX80 2" 16 track at his home in Portland, Oregon. This is clearly his most honest and personal work to date, and with a total of 52 tracks over two albums, he also had a lot to express. Next month Ryland will hit the road with Orange Alert favorites Emperor X and Drew Danbury for a set of exciting shows.

Our friends from New York, Murder Mystery are shopping around a new track called "The World". They prefaced it by saying it may or may not be a departure for them, and who is really to say if it is. Sure, it sounds different then their work on Are You Ready for the Heartache Cause Here it Comes, but this track shows growth. It is really quite remarkable and I would love for you to have a listen.

Listen to: The World (mp3)

One of my favorite releases of 2007 was Jason Quiver's (aka Papercuts) Can't Go Back. It was nostalgic and inventive all at the time, it a simple and heart-felt, and above all else it was beautiful. This past week Gnomonsong announced that Papercut's next album You Can Have What You Want will be released in April. On this album Jason has stripped down his sound even more using mostly vintage organs, pulsing bass & Kraut-via-Ringo-inspired drum rhythms.

You Can Have What You Want
01 Once We Walked In The Sunlight
02 A Dictator's Lament
03 The Machine Will Tell Us So
04 A Peculiar Hallelujah
05 Jet Plane
06 Dead Love
07 Future Primitive
08 You Can Have What You Want
09 The Void
10 The Wolf

Listen to: John Brown (mp3) (from Can't Go Back)

I've know singer/songwriter Brooke Healy since high school, and she has always been fascinated by the process and sound of music. Now she has gone from covering The Murmurs in Midwest living rooms to finally releasing her debut album with her sister Angela as Sister Solace. The self-titled, self-released album is a collection of songs ranging from electronic tones to graceful folk. Yet, what stands out on the album are the harmonies that only sisters could achieve.

If I had to pick one song to represent all of 2008 it would have to be Sleepyhead by Boston's Passion Pit. I can't tell if it is the driving bass line or the swirling electronic, but I cannot get enough of this song. Apparently producers out there feel the same way and remixes have been flooding the inbox. Here are a few of my favorites.

Listen to: Sleepyhead (The Knocks Remix) (mp3) Sleepyhead (Wallpaper. Dio Remix) (mp3) Sleepyhead (Bo Flex Giantess Remix) (mp3) The Mummers vs Passion Pit (mp3) Sleepyhead (original version) (mp3)

I know I mention Minneapolis a lot, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to share with you the music of Lookbook. The combination of Grant Cutler and Maggie Morrision, Lookbook is a sonic adventure through the darkest after hours club to the glowing snowbanks of the Midwest Sunday afternoons. Their self-released, handmade debut ep, I Fear You, My Darkness is now available through their myspace page. This is a completely different sound coming from the music drenched streets on Minneapolis, don't miss this!

Listen to: Believe the Hype (mp3)

Perhaps one of the most anticipated releases of 2009 is Dan Deacon's "Bromst", and this week he offered up a sneak peak at what is in store. Unlike the completely electronic Spiderman of the Rings (Carpark, 2007), the instrumentation on Bromst is a mixture of acoustic instruments, mechanical instruments, samples and electronics. The player piano, marimba, glockenspiel, vibraphone, live drums, winds and brass give Bromst a much richer tone than his previous work. The intricate and complex parts, skillfully executed by the performers, are woven together into a rich, dense, noisy dance pop that has become Dan Deacon's signature sound. Bromst is an attempt to blend the intense energy of Deacon's live performance with electronic madness he creates in the studio, and from the sound of the first single "Get Older" he has succeeded.

It is no secret that I am currently in Chicago, and this weekend we got what seemed like 100ft of snow. I thought about digging my car out of the side of a snow drift, but instead I decided to share a few tracks from the most wintry band I know, Gävle's Twiggy Frostbite. Don't forget that their debut album, Through Fire, will be released digitally worldwide in April.

Listen to: Heroes (acoustic version) (mp3) Heroes (original version) (mp3) Messy Star (acoustic version) (mp3)

The Watch List

2009-01-10T07:08:00.000-06:00

Listening:
1. Trezire: Heavy experimental tones from Pittsburgh.
2. The Arctic Circle: Chicago's Anthony Iamurri creates incredible bedroom beats as The Arctic Circle.
3. On We: Bridget O'Callaghan is the strength in this tiny Chicago band. They are playing at Subt on the 16th.

Reading:
1. What Facebook Updates Really Mean by Rusty Barnes: Two little gems from the master of little gems.
2. it's november & you're 30 by j. michael niotta: 30 is tough in any month.
3. from The Evolutionary Revolution by Lily Hoang: This is a glimpse at what looks like a great story.
4. Juggling Spheres of Time by Joshua Michael Stewart: "he lounges in his yellowed briefs drinking applejack out of Big Bird’s head"
5. Celebrity Slumber [25] by Judson Hamilton: You will never guess who the celebrity is!
6. Products by Donald Illich: Everything is a product.
7. Daily Grind by Jared Ward: What a grind that would be.

Wishing:
1. Grow Book: This is the latest book in the featherproof family, and it is not only beautifully designed but it is a book with a conscious. Grow plants the seed of environmental responsibility in young children through a fun and interactive daily routine, with playful graphics and typography. The book is now available for presale through featherproof.
2. Erin Dollar's Fake Beards: Do you have trouble growing a beard? Well, let Erin Dollar take care of your facial hair needs. She just reopened her esty shop this week.
3. Speaking of beards, check out the latest shirt from Michael Cianfrani and Tinyrun.

Getting:
1. The new ep from Chicago's White Devil for free here.
2. The latest album from Chicago's Office is called Mecca. Frontman Scott Masson has decided to give it away for FREE!

Watching:
1. Joe Frawley "The City (Map 1)": Here is a bonus video from Joe Frawley.
2. Great Northern "106 Days and Counting"
3. Xrabit & DMG$ "Follow The Leader"
4. Melodium "Felt Melt (Primitive Version)": This is two years old, but still an amazing song and video.
5. Ben Tanzer spits the TRUTH!

War of the Words

2009-01-09T14:13:00.003-06:00

If you are in Chicago tonight then you have a rather difficult decision to make.

Friday, January 9
7PM, $1! @ The Hideout
1354 W. Wabansia

The Dollar Store returns, because we feel like it. And so do you! Featuring the Unassailably Cool: Lindsay Hunter, Robbie Q. Telfer, and The Brothers Dodson (Zach and Seth)

Friday, Jan. 9, 2009
7 PM, Quimby's Books
1854 W. North Ave.

THE2NDHAND Broadsheet No. 30 released
Marking our 9th anniversary, THE2NDHAND's 30th installment, GIVES BIRTH TO MONSTERS by Chicago-based fiction writer and poet Spencer Dew, is a tale of one man's small heartbreak, the backdrop to a contemporary landscape of well-meaning but ultimately shallow political activism, fractured communicative lines, and more ultimately enduring drives toward total inebriation. In classic Dew fashion, he'll have you laughing all the way to brink of the void. Dew is the author of the short-story collection Songs of Insurgency (2008).
Appearing at this reading/celebration with him will be frequent THE2NDHAND contributor Jill Summers, new face on our pages Y.Z. Chin (formerly managing editor of Chicago-based Rhino magazine), and the ever-abundant C.T. Ballentine, our Chicago-based editorial force.
It's FREE, and supported in part by a grant through Poets & Writers Inc. give by an anonymous donor.

Band of the Week

2009-01-09T06:57:00.001-06:00

Joe Frawley

Growing up in the '80's, when I hear the word sample I think hip hop. I picture a deejay cutting and chopping up portions of old funk records and laying down a solid beat. Or perhaps he throws in a phrase here or there, like "pump up the volume" or "fresh" and so on. So when I discovered a sampled based musician from Connecticut named Joe Frawley I was pleasantly surprised to hear subtle piano tones coating chopped and repeated audio samples. To a writer it is not a foreign concept to feel that there is rhythm and music and pattens contained in the spoken word. Most musicians prefer to utilize words that have been sung, but when sampled the spoken word can have a more mysterious and luring tone and texture. Last summer, Joe released his first full-length album, A Book of Dreams on his own label. On the album he defines the line between music and sound art while creating a world as beautiful as it is frightening.

His latest release, Ritual Research, was released last month for free through the on-line label Clinical Archives. It follows a daydreaming graduate student who slips obliquely into a subconscious underworld of shifting identities. The listener moves through the dreams as if on a cloud moving with each piano note. It is a fascinating collection that has been downloaded over 22,000 times in the last month, and for good reason.

Recently, Joe was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Orange Alert (OA): Let's start with the idea of sampling. I have interviewed a few other sample based artists, and they basically operate on faith. As Jon Nelson of Escape Mechanism put it, "faith that our country's legal system would choose to defend the creative act, over the micro management of every single sound byte ever recorded". Where do you find the majority of your samples and do you ever feel the need to get clearance to use them?
Joe Frawley (JF): To answer the first part, my samples come directly from my listening experience. I am kind of an audio junkie, equal parts music and spoken word. Public radio interviews, even some dialog from films go in. Certain phrases, whether musical or spoken, will just resonate with me and I’ll have to rip them. Most interesting for me is when I can recombine them with other sounds to create an entirely new context. The old man’s voice in “The Hypnotist” is from a VHS tape of Leonard Bernstein rehearsing “Le Sacre du Printemps”. Sometimes the original source is something kind of weak, or not very evocative in its original context. For example, I have ripped dozens of audio samples from a DVD of Charlotte Church live in Wales, including between-song banter. I rip a lot of audio from public radio interviews. An interview with A.S. Byatt features strongly on my composition, “Tangerine”. I also have a pretty good field recorder, and some of Ritual Research is based on a surreptitiously recorded conversation I had with an individual. As far as legal clearance goes, I have a few thoughts on this: 1. The work would never get made if I did everything legally. 2. In this country, lawsuits aren’t based on principle, they are based on money- of which I make none. (That’s not to say I don’t sell records, but I just about break even). 3. My samples are intentionally obscure, which greatly lessens any economic damage. Negativland sampled U2, I think, to be intentionally provocative. My samples are meant to slip through your fingers, so to speak. One last point, being a musician I do take care to give credit to the musical appropriations from other composers.

OA: Speaking of Jon Nelson, I first heard your music on his program Some Assembly Required. How do you handle promotion of your music, and do you feel there is an adequate forum for your brand of classical/electronic music?
JF: I have my own label, Joe Frawley Music, and promotion is hard work, almost equal to the creative process. My work intentionally hovers in the cracks between music and sound art. It fits in between several different genres, which makes audience targeting a challenge. I have the most success with outlets that attract fans of experimental, ambient and post-rock music. I’m hoping the future will bring about a genre where my work will be at home, maybe called “Mind Music” or “Dream Soundtracks” or something like that.

OA: There are two distinct elements at play in your music, the classical nature of your piano play and the electronic and complex nature of your sampled speech and field recordings. How is a song typically built? Do you create a melody on the piano and build upon it or do you find a spoken phrase or vintage recording and create a soundtrack for it or does it all just come together at once?
JF: I usually have an archive of piano recordings, which might be stuff I composed, or improvisations. I usually treat these recordings the same way I do the other sound samples I collect. I might use a loop of a piano phrase and combine it with some voice or sound effect and see if it evokes any feeling. The process is remarkably similar to painting, or the way I imagine painting would be since I don’t paint. You can actually hear the audio equivalent of underpainting or palimpsest, where ideas that didn’t take were faded to the background, while a stronger idea was “painted” on top of it later. Some pieces are clearly based around a piano recording, like “The City (Map 2)”, while in others, the samples are more prominent. I try to think like a composer and avoid ear fatigue with any one tone or texture. Regarding structure, I don’t usually plan things out. I’ve read there are two different types of authors, those who outline the plot first, and those who discover the story as they write it. I would fall artistically in the camp of the latter, when working with sound collage.

OA: Your latest release, "Ritual Research", was released last month for free through Clinical Archives. How was this decision made to give this beautifully intense ep away for free?
JF: Thanks for the kind words. My friend Alex who curates that net label invited me to submit a release just as I was finishing Ritual Research. At first I said ‘no, thank you’, because I really dislike how my music sounds on MP3s. It’s just not the best presentation for my work. Then I realized his releases get upwards of 20,000 downloads, which is probably more listeners then all my previous CDs combined. I am also still selling “A Book of Dreams” which has only been out for 6 months, so I began to think of the net-label release as a promotional tool for my back catalog. We’ll see if it works. This is a strange time for music making. I’d love to see vinyl become king again, but it not going to happen. I don’t complain though, because if this were 15 years ago, I’d just be some weird guy making sounds in his basement and no one would ever hear it. So you take the good with the bad.

OA: I have really enjoyed the added element of video to a few of your songs, it really helps to visualize the intended or indirect or statement of the piece. Do you see video playing a larger role in your future projects? What motivated you to get into video collage?
JF: My first video was basically a slide show of some of my original photography- photographs of some artwork I had made, mixed with pictures of my wife, Michelle- set to the audio piece “Wilhelmina’s Dream”. I did it to feature my visual art, but then got intrigued by the idea of treating video clips the same way I treat audio: looping, processing, mixing to create new meanings out of pre-existing images. I’m currently experimenting with some new video ideas. My music is intended to evoke visual/mental imagery, so I feel a little uncomfortable imposing video images on my audio pieces. I hope to find a balance. The thing I like about video is that I have no idea what I’m doing. At least with sound collage, I had a music background. Video is terra incognita, which is exciting.

OA: What's next for Joe Frawley?
JF: I am really interested in pursuing collaborations with other artists, and not necessarily those who sound like me or share my aesthetic. I hope to continue exploring new directions within the same style and to avoid repeating myself. Increasing family and professional demands are making it more and more difficult to find space to create; but with luck, in a year I will have another 30 minutes of new music. That’s about the going rate.

Bonus Questions:
OA: Coffee? If yes, where can you find the best cup in your area?
JF: Tea. My house. Da Hong Pao (oolong). Order from Harney & Sons.

OA: What was the last great book you have read?
JF: Repetition by Alain Robbe-Grillet. Not for everyone.

For more information on Joe Frawley please visit his website.

Reader Meet Author

2009-01-08T06:30:00.000-06:00

Corey Mesler

Growing up I had always heard the phrase "Support the Arts". It was typically associated with funding for the more creative programs in school, or possibility it meant attending a school play instead of a the football game. At the time it seemed like a choice that had to be made, a decision to do one thing or support one thing instead of another. Over time my understanding of support has changed, and a new word has been added to the phrase, independent. In a way it is still about choices, but most of your life is about choices. Supporting the independent arts is more about searching, caring, and desire to feed the most creative aspect in everyone.

Corey Mesler is not just an independent writer, but he is also the owner of an indie bookstore. Now more than ever, owning an indie bookstore has become a noble and foolish venture. Yet, Corey runs an established store in Memphis called Burke's Book Store, and like all other indie store he relies on patrons choosing his service and knowledge over the mega-chain or Amazon. Basically, supporting the independent arts is about thought, making a conscious effort to buy from local shops, directly from the publisher, or the artist. The keyword word, no matter when you go, is support.

Recently, the prolific writer and book store owner Corey Mesler was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Orange Alert (OA): Every week I skim through a long list of on-line literary journals and more times than not I see your name. Is there a trick to getting published? How often to you submit to one given publication?
Corey Mesler (CM): A lot is luck, of course. And the rest is writing poems that other people might want to read, which is like a conjurer's trick. It's hardest when it looks easiest. I have my favorite sites to submit to which I do probably 2 or 3 times a year. Also, I am always looking for new venues, new audiences.

OA: Do you feel that there is still more legitimacy attached to print journals? Are there certain types or lengths of stories that you submit to print journals as opposed to on-line journals?
CM: Yes, I think print journals still have more cachet. I'm a paper and glue man myself so I understand it. That being said, there is a lot of adventurous and exciting publishing being done on the internet. There are smart and creative editors working for literary webzines and I appreciate them. The landscape is changing and soon web publishing will be as highly regarded as traditional print publishing. A good sign this year was Dzanc Books' Best of the Web anthology. Of course it was published as, you know, a book.

I don't have a set of criteria that helps me decide which pieces to submit online and which should be print. Like most of what I do I do it on a whim and a prayer.

OA: The Agoraphobe's Pandiculations was printed by Lulu. How was your experience going through Lulu as it compares to your previous novels and chapbooks?
CM: I didn't go through Lulu, my publisher did. What I mean by that is that my two Lulu books are not self-published. They were accepted by Christine Laine's wonderful Little Poem Press and she uses Lulu, I imagine for the convenience. And that's about all I know about Lulu. Unless you wanna talk about the cute singer who had a hit with "To Sir with Love."

OA: This collection confronts the condition that you have lived with for a while now. Has its publication been freeing in any way?
CM: In a way, yes. I am still plagued by agoraphobia and still write about it. When that chapbook appeared my therapist said, let this be the last time you write about being an agoraphobe. What he meant was that I identified too much with the debility. I see his point but that's not how my writing mechanism is wired. I write about what I write about and a lot of that centers on how I am feeling. I guess I am a poet who is trapped in his own body. Its contours haunt me and feed me and wake me in the middle of the night with pains in new areas and sometimes with small poems, small middle-of-the-night poems.

OA: The media has made sure that every one is aware of the struggles in each industry in America. How is the book business? From what I hear from the local shops in Chicago is that the regulars are still the regulars, and that things have been fairly steady.
CM: Business sucks. I can't sugar coat it. We struggle. The fact that we are still here astounds me and all credit goes to my wife who is smarter than the average bear. This economy is trying to kill us and all small independent businesses. What a world it would be if people only had Barnes and Noble and McDonald's and Walmart and Amazon to choose from. Frankly I don't wanna live in that world. Help your small locally owned independent businesses; that's the message. All that being said, I have great faith in our newly elected president. I have never been this optimistic about the political climate and direction of our country. Wait, what was the question? How did I turn so pontifical?

OA: What's next for Corey Mesler?
CM: I have a new chapbook of poems due out any second now. I have a book of short stories, Listen, due out in March 2009 from Brown Paper Publishing, a book of dialogue pieces I am proud of. And I have another novel, called Following Richard Brautigan, from Livingston Press, in the pipeline scheduled for sometime in the dim time-to-come. I have another novel finished which I hope to sell soon. And, finally, and perhaps most importantly, I am making notes for another novel. I love the long haul of a novel and so hope to begin anon.

Bonus Questions:
OA: If you could have coffee with anyone (alive or dead) who would you want to sit down with?
CM: Martin Luther King, Jr., W. B. Yeats, James Joyce, John Berryman, Kurt Vonnegut, Frank O'Hara, Iris Murdoch, Ingmar Bergman, Alfred Hitchcock, Groucho Marx, John Lennon, Leonard Cohen (because I think he would be less intimidating than Mr. Dylan), David Markson, Zooey Deschanel.

OA: What type of music do you enjoy and who are a few of your favorites?
CM: Mostly 60s pop-rock with a special appreciation for psych-pop.
Dylan, Beatles, Lennon, Mr. Cohen, The Zombies, The Animals, The Rascals, The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, Fever Tree, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Van Morrison, Elvis Costello, Jethro Tull, Big Star, Captain Beefheart, The Monks, The Monkees. In jazz, miles of Miles.

For more information on Corey Mesler please visit his website and don't forgot to check out Burkes Books here.

Artist of the Week

2009-01-07T07:26:00.000-06:00

Britton Walters

The most challenging aspect of pursuing a career as a creative professional (artist, writer, or musician) is taking the time to stop and create. I've talked to writers who say they have to write for 30 minutes per day, but it is the more ambitious projects like Brendan Losch's song per week project that really drive creativity. Since 2005 Chicago's Britton Walter's has been forcing himself to do something similar, and the results have fueled a career that is just starting to really take off. His yearly project is called 4x6x366, and it finds him focusing what energy he left to create a personal painting or drawing every day. It is an ambitious goal, but one that has helped him create hundreds of original drawings.

Yet, Britton is so much more than just drawings, he has created a series of illustrations that are filled humor and creativity. He has been able to turn these illustrations into successfully marketed products. A skilled graphic designer, Britton has been able to take his creation from the canvas and place them on stickers, t-shirts, buttons, and more. Under the heading of Nerfect, he has created favorites like Diabolical Dog, Hip hop hamburger and many more.

Recently, Britton was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Orange Alert (OA): Now that you are nearing the end of your 4x6x366 project for 2008 how do you feel it has helped you as an artist? Has your approach to doing this changed since you started working this way in 2005?
Britton Walters (BW): The daily drawing series have been extremely helpful to me as an artist. On a basic level, it is an exercise of sorts. The practice helps me build up my skills, and the daily deadline keeps my imagination cranking. I also get to experiment with a lot of ideas on a day-to-day basis. Not every drawing is a winner, but I know that I have another shot the next day. You don’t always get that when you’re working on larger pieces.

When I started doing the daily drawings, it was mainly because I had noticed that I hadn’t done quality personal work in quite a while. I needed to warm myself up by starting this practice.

The drawings from that first year, seem a bit alien to me now when I look at them. I tended to over-think and overwork the pieces. I see them as to too tight, tense even. I feel that as I’ve moved on with this project, I’ve been able to be able to really loosen up and let things flow more
naturally. If a drawing stinks now, so be it, but back in 2005, I might have redraw a bad piece again and again.

Now, I’m at a stage where I’m a bit more comfortable just letting things happen, and to trust my gut more.

OA: Have you ever had anyone take you up on your offer to finish their paintings?
BW: A handful of folks have and the results have been really good. I think people know roughly what to expect out of me and in the pieces I’ve “finished” have been really well received by the people who submit work to me.

I’m actually surprised that more people haven’t taken me up on the offer to finish their unfinished artworks. Every artist I know has a couple pieces they just didn’t complete lying around, and I don’t charge a crazy amount for the service. It’s a bargain, I get another collaboration in my portfolio and the submitter gets a sweet piece of artwork.

OA: You have created a wide range of sticker designs. What is your most popular and when do you know drawing should or could become a sticker?
BW: Diabolical Hot Dog is definitely my most successful creation lately. Anything I put him on moves out the door. The character just has the right magical combination of parts and people dig him.

It’s hard to say what makes me think a particular design is worthy of getting produced as a sticker, a t-shirt or whatever. In the beginning I just put stuff out that I was happy with and I just kept my fingers crossed that someone else out there in the world would be willing to buy
it.

Originally, I saw making stickers and buttons a way of getting affordable bits of my artwork out into the world. Now, as more and more shops have begun to carry them, and it has become more like a real business, I rely on feedback from the folks who sell my stuff in the retail environment. If something is doing really well as a button, I will consider turning it into a sticker or t-shirt.

OA: Tales of the Danged looks interesting, what can you tell us about your comic book?
BW: I’ve always liked comics, and over the years I’ve tried my hand at the comics form. Tales of The Danged is the last real comic book I put out. It was a real labor of love, and if I had the time and maybe a team to work on comics with to take a bit of the pressure off, I’d love to do more comics in the future.

The original idea Tales of The Danged was for an anthology book that I could try different kinds of stories in, but as I was working on it, one of the stories seemed to grow and grow and was eventually the length of the book. That story was the story of Secret Dog and Doug Nerfect, a
couple of unintentional adventurers. There are a lot of twists and turns, a few things that I thought were funny, a 3-D center spread (glasses are included), and a special appearance by Diabolical Hot Dog.

OA: Is Chicago a good place to be a professional illustrator and artist? With the internet does it really matter where you live?
BW: Chicago has a large community of professional artists and with a lot of ad agencies and publishing firms located here, it is a pretty good place to find work. The gallery and art scene is pretty healthy, but has a bit of room to grow.

Granted, as you suggest, the internet really frees people up. As an artist, you can really work globally and build a strong network of connections. You can truly set up shop anywhere as long as you have the chops and a good core base of clients.

However, it really helps to be able to physically attend shows and make personal connections with others in the art community offline. You never know whom you might meet at an opening or how going out to lunch with a client can benefit your career.

OA: What's next for Britton Walters and Nerfect?
BW: I feel really good about the upcoming year artwork wise. There are a million things I’d like to work on and develop.

I’m moving ahead with the daily drawings. So many ideas come out of that series that are ending up in the larger pieces I’ve been doing lately. I’ve been doing a bit more painting these days and am really excited to show these pieces off.

Speaking of which, I have a couple of shows in the spring that I’m doing work for and planning now. Please check out Nerfect.com regularly to find out more about them. I’m also keeping my eyes open for group shows and new opportunities to show my work.

I also plan to continue developing the merchandise extension of my work. I’ve got a few new items in the works and hope to get my stuff into more environments around the globe in aught nine.

To be honest, the most exciting thing coming up for me are those opportunities that I don’t even know of yet.

Bonus Questions:
OA: If you could sit down to coffee with anyone (alive or dead) who would it be?
BW: I would really love to chat with physicist Richard Feymnman. He was a brilliant, curious and interesting human being. The collections of his essays and other personal writings are very entertaining.

OA: What type of music do you enjoy and who are a few of your favorites?
BW: I’d like to think that I’m pretty eclectic in my tastes in music. There is so much great stuff out there. On a single day I could easily go from bluegrass to old school hip hop or classic soul and funk to hardcore punk. As long as there is some honesty in it and it is a bit rough on the edges, I’ll give most anything a spin.

For more information on Britton Walters please visit his website.

Orange Alert Presents...

2009-01-06T12:10:00.000-06:00

Now, Now Every Children

Well if that video doesn't explain everything then you weren't watching close enough. Ok, they are young and having fun, but the duo of Cacie Dalager (vocals, guitar) and Brad Hale (drums) have put together one of the best debut albums of 2008. You can read my full review here and my interview with Now, Now Every Children here.

As the video states the are currently on tour, and will be at Schubas for an Orange Alert sponsored show on the 11th. A full list of their Midwest dates are below, and we are proud to be a part of their tour.

Listen to: "Cars" (mp3)

Tour:
01/09 – Wausau, WI @ Rockwater
01/10 – Metamora, IL @ Johnny's
01/11 – Chicago, IL @ Schuba's
01/12 – St. Louis, MO @ the Bluebird
01/13 – Columbia, MO @ MoJos
01/14 – Kansas City, MO @ the Record Bar
01/15 – Des Moines, IA @ Vaudeville Mews
01/16 – Iowa City, IA @ Picador
01/17 – Lincoln, NE @ Box Awesome

New Release Tuesday

2009-01-06T07:08:00.002-06:00

Music:

Glasvegas - Glasvegas Listen to: Be My Baby (cover) (mp3)

The Gourds - Haymaker!

Git Beats - Say Cheese

Cactus's - Tropical Terror Ep

Jessie Kilguss - Nocturnal Drifter

DVD:

Gallery Watch

2009-01-05T20:31:00.004-06:00

There are two show opening this weekend, one here in Chicago and one in New York.

Postcards from the Edge - Jan 9-10, 2009

The 11th Annual Postcards From the Edge A Benefit for Visual AIDS

Hosted by Metro Pictures

519 West 24th Street, NYC

Former Orange Alert Artist of the Week, Kristin Reger is involved as well as the long list of incredible artists. Vito Acconci, Ida Applebroog, David Armstrong, John Baldessari, Barton Lidice Benes, Nayland Blake, Ross Bleckner, Patty Chang, Marcel Dzama, Tony Feher, Adam Fuss, Ann Hamilton, Jane Hammond, Mary Heilmann, Arturo Herrera, Alfredo Jaar, Emily Jacir, John Kelly, Jeff Koons, Louise Lawler, Glenn Ligon, Kalup Linzy, Robert Longo, Yuri Masnyi, McDermott & McGough, Barry McGee, Julie Mehretu, Marilyn Minter, Slava Mogutin, Yoko Ono, Catherine Opie, Paul Pfeiffer, Jack Pierson, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Joel Shapiro, Kate Shepherd, Cindy Sherman, Kiki Smith, Annie Sprinkle, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Kara Walker, John Waters, Carrie Mae Weems, William Wegman, Lawrence Weiner, T.J. Wilcox, Fred Wilson, Shoval Zohar

You can find out more information here.

Ungray: Color, Light and Other Balms - January 10 - April 4, 2009

Video, Sculpture and Drawing by Scott Wolniak with Sound by Jim Dorling

Opening reception: 6 - 8 PM, Friday, January 9, 2009

Chicago Cultural Center

78 E. Washington St. Chicago, IL

Scott is a Chicago native and was an Artist of the Week back in last month. His work focuses on the ever-changing patterns in life, and he has an creative approach to adding humor into his art.

The Orange Spotlight

2009-01-05T06:42:00.000-06:00

Nami Mun Miles From Nowhere (Penguin/Riverhead, January 2nd)

Miles From Nowhere is a dark and diligent look at a life I had never contemplated, but has always lurked in the distance. It all seems so simple and frightening and just one tragedy away. As the rate of the unemployed rises and the rate of foreclosures rises, it seems probably that the rate of the homeless will rise as well. This is the story of a homeless teen who has lost her parents, not to death but to insanity and indifference. What comes of this abandonment is a journey of misguided faith and faux-friendships, and a process of learning how to live a life that no one deserves to live. Taking place in Brooklyn in the '80's, the main character Joon bounces from shelter to bus stops to brothel and further into the darkness of the streets.

The dominant theme of this novel is innocence abused and an evolution into guilt. In a recent interview, author Nami Mun described guilt as "the policeman of emotions". While living on the streets and throwing all reason and understood values away, the emotions of a teen are bound to run wild. That experience is one that Nami shares with her character Joon, but that is where the comparisons end. Nami herself lived in the streets as a teen, and held many random and varied jobs before making a commitment to writing on January 1st, 2000. Now in 2009 her debut novel, Miles From Nowhere, was released on January 2nd. To hear Nami talk about her need and urgency in writing will make you want to read closer and live deeply. Here are her hopes for her readers, "I want them to understand that the homeless guy holding out his hand and the addict nodding off on the bus and the sex worker in the back seat of a car, and even the murderer locked up in prison were all children once". When boiled down that is the magic contained within this novel, it is a stark reality shown through the eyes of a child.

Snowsera Fictions (Self-Released, August 22nd)

"Do we have all that we need?”

In a music scene filled with both diversity and standerized pop, and new bands starting up daily, there seems to be a need for a gimmick. For a band that plays straightforward indie rock what is going to set them apart? What will be their claim to fame, what will they leave behind? For Chicago's Snowsera the key is in the tiny "fictions" written by Bill Arteaga. When Bill shouts out the question, "Do we have all that we need?", I was convinced that this band had the drive find all the answers that they need.

It also doesn't hurt that Snowsera is giving away their ep "Fictions" away for free. Just go to their blog, and enter your e-mail address and they will send you the link to download the album. The cover of the album was design by South Carolina's Katryn Garner, and it seems to be a perfect introduction to five tracks contained within.

Fictions
24/I See/Runaway/Darling/So Subtle

Orange Alert's Music Minute

2009-01-04T07:10:00.001-06:00

I am going to be upfront on this one, and tell you I found out about this band at my family's Christmas. The lead singer, Rachael Petit just happens to be my cousin, but that doesn't change the fact that this Atlanta band is on the rise. The Soundtrack will be releasing their debut ep, Rumor Has It, this month, and they are currently participating in a local battle of the bands contest (vote here). Their sound is pure power pop, but the strength and depth in Rachael's lyrics give them the added element that will take them to the top.

Here is a new year's wish from Sweden's Klumpfisk. "Klumpfisk celebrates the coming of 2009 by travelling through time, in an ambitious effort to finally put 'too late' and 'too soon' out of their misery. Perhaps you have been waiting, perhaps you have not. In any event, the inevitable question put by this exquisite moment is whether waiting should ever be considered a reasonable activity again. Happy new year!"

Listen to: Peter, Bjorn, & John - Young Folks (Klumpfisk Remix) (mp3)

Los Angeles' Killola is so confident that you will enjoy their new album that they are giving it away for free. I Am Messenger highlights prefectly the raw energy contained with lead singer Lisa Rieffel. As she screams "You ain't seen the best of me yet!", I fall convinced, and I look forward to see what Killola can do. There is a centain level of glam, and a little '80's hair metal mixed in, but their is an independant heart that beats loudly. Like I said the album is free and can be found here, but below is a small sample.

Listen to: This is How The World Ends (mp3)

The two newest additions to one of my favorite electronic labels, Exponential Records, are refreshing and working well together. Diego Bernal does not create electronic music, he has found the soul of all music and placed it on wax. He has managed to merge the freedom jazz with rhythm of r&b, and the flavor and sensation of latin sounds. His first release on Exponential is a free ep entitled "Bring It Home", and you can download it here. What is even better is that the ep features a remix from the other new artist Mexican with Guns.

Ok, we have covered power pop and we have covered electronic gems, but what if you came looking for something else? Last week I received an album that I put in and was so shocked that I had to take it out immediatly. I later went back and found the right groove, but this is all out in your face punk rock! Nashville's Cactus's are releasing their Tropical Terror EP this Tuesday, and their is no sugar coating the fury of this band. Cactus's are an intense 3 piece group with the self proclaimed style of tropical thrash rock. Drummer (jru frazier) had been from a screamo grindcore band in Korea and met guitarist (asher rogers) when he moved to the states. After months of no luck finding a bassist, they convinced Asher's brother (sam rogers) to learn to play.

To complete the week in pop, you have to check out Arizona's Peachcake. Their sound is as colorful as their outfits, and their third album What Year Will You Have The World? will be released on Jan. 13th. The boys will be here in Chicago on Feb. 2nd at Subt. You can watch the video for 'Souls Have No Drum Machine' here.

The Watch List

2009-01-03T06:30:00.001-06:00

Listening:
1. Sun Visor: I suppose all you need is one song, well I think they might have more than one, but that is all that I found on their myspace. Luckily it is a good one.
2. Albatross: There is something about Julie Popelka voice that blows me away.
3. Box of Baby Birds: Gary Calhoun James is the mastermind of this soothing brand of folk/country from Chicago. They are performing at The Hideout on an 9th.

Reading:
1. Us, People by Jimmy Chen: I am a sucker for pop culture, but what we really got me was the last line.
2. & (twenty-two) by J.A. Tyler: A flash of brilliance.
3. Me and Theodore dress up like Eskimos while we roast chestnuts on a hotplate by Mary Hamilton: This was the other story that Mary read at the last Orange Alert reading.
4. PAVEL PONOMARYOV AND PROV SADOVSKY by Jac Jemc: This is from the latest issue of No Posit, and there is so much more great stuff in this issue. New pieces from Noah Cicero, Matt Ryan, Zachary German, Chris Major, David Oprava, and many more.
5. Saved by the Bell by Sam Pink: What if Sam Pink wrote an episode of Saved by the Bell?
6. On Bathybius by Tom Orange: Mr. Orange how have I not found you sooner?!
7. Gone by Sarah Williams: A well-painted picture.

Wishing:
1. Blago 2016-F**K Them T-Shirts: This just further proves that Chris Bower is a genius.
2. Ink Work & original art by Chris Szostek
3. Blue Collar Poet by G. Emil Reutter: To be released in February, but now available for pre-order.

Getting:
1. An Introduction to Hunger by Zachary C. Bush: An interesting collection of poems by Zach from Gold Wake Press.
2. Excited about AWP? Well here is one more reason to attend.

Watching:
1. "Mona Lee" by The Sweet Serenades
2. Zac German & Brandon Scott Gorrell eat a crap ton of Popeye's
3. "Sore Thumb" by Fujiya & Miyagi
4. "Evrytm We Do It (RAC Maury RMX)" by Wallpaper.
5. Smoking Popes "Stay Down" Live on JBTV

Richard Leck Remembered

2009-01-02T16:54:00.004-06:00

We were just notified today by Words Like Kudzu editor and writer Karen Lillis that Richard Leck (Feb. 17, 1933-Dec. 19, 2008) passed away on December 19th. Our prayers are with all who knew and loved Richard, and we felt it fitting to rerun our review of his debut chapbook "Memory Hair". Richard was working on his memoirs at the time of his death, and you can find a nice obituary here.

Richard Leck Memory Hair (Words Like Kudzu Press, Fall 2008)

"Feeling the narrowness of now"

At the age of 75, Richard Leck has achieved what many only wish to achieve. He has published his first collection of poems. At this stage of his life he it is clear is feeling the weight of all the years he has lived, and beginning to fear the future. One would think that this would be a time of reflection, but instead Memory Hair is filled with more of a concern over the mortality of memory. Richard focuses on the slow fade of memory, as ghost lose their shine and genuine thoughts are replaced by snapshots. It's the window slowly closing that will never be reopened. One of the poems in this collection really sum up this emotion this best is "Empty" where he talks about "Faded echoes in the walls" and how each room cries its own sadness. These verses are both touching and heartfelt and cold and empty. They fit perfectly with the image of someone looking back at life and wondering what had happened.

One surprising aspect of the collection is the abundance of verse. It had been a long time since I had read a verse poem, but I was pleased to see that the poems still retained a deep meaning while using rhyme. It is a fine debut on a fine mircopress. Words Like Kudzu is Pittsburgh press run by Karen Lillis. Karen herself is an accomplished writer, her latest novel, The Second Elizabeth, will be released by Six Gallery Press in December.

To order a copy of this chapbook please send $5 to Words Like Kudzu Press c/o Karen Lillis PO Box 8142 Squirrel Hill Station Pittsburgh, PA 15217

Band of the Week

2009-01-02T06:34:00.002-06:00

Drew Danburry

There has been a reoccuring word surrounding my interactions with musicians lately, and that word is faith. It all starts with faith in your own abilities, and that then has to translate into faith that others will take interest in and enjoy your sound. Now you have confidence and a fanbase, but the final act of faith lies in turning over your songs to a record label and a promotion team. Each step of the processing of making an album requires the musician to trust that he or she has made the right decisions in writing, recordings and especially in who they have aligned themselves with.

On his latest release Drew Danburry has finally given control to a record label. For the last five years Drew has released all of his albums independantly, but he recently signed to Emergency Umbrella Records. There is justicifaction for being both signed and unsigned, and the transition between the two can be challenging. Luckily for Drew he has found a great label, and the resulting album This Could Mean Trouble, You Don't Speak for the Club sounds great. He has finally found a quality label that has faith in him, and his career and life has never looked brighter.

Recently, Drew was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Orange Alert (OA): Your latest release, This Could Mean Trouble, You Don't Speak for the Club was released in November on Umbrella Records, what can you tell us about this album?
Drew Danburry (DD): It is a good album. I'd be surprised if people don't it enjoy on many levels. I'm really happy with the result and really proud of it in terms or art, craft and diligent labor.

OA: Having self-released your albums leading up to this release, how has your experience with This Could Mean Trouble been different?
DD: It's been really hard relinquishing control of everything. It's been hard not to do everything myself and have it be hands on, it has been hard to just put my faith in others. That's just been a "me" issue though. The label is wonderful and everyone I'm working with is working as hard as I am to make it be a successful release. The fact that strangers have so much faith in what I'm doing really reflects a lot on the value of the release and my art to me. I'm a lucky guy. I've been very blessed in my life.

OA: You have spent a lot of time on the road. What can people expect to see at your shows? Do you book your own tours? If so, is touring becoming more difficult and less financially feasible?
DD: Yes I have. I never know what a show is going to be like. To be honest, I'm not too emotionally stable, so depending on the atmosphere and how I'm feeling, that's what they get. I've had meltdowns less than I've had amazing awesome performances with the audience feeding into a fiery energy that gets the whole crowd moving and stomping and shouting and yelling for the pure joy of life. But for someone to expect that always would be frustrating to my humanity.

At this point I book my own tours but I've been searching for an agent and/or to tour with people who I love/like and/or have an agent that will book the tour and slot me in as support. In short, I'm pretty jaded on DIY touring right now. I can't make ends meet doing it and I've had so much bad luck accompanied with dishonest people that I just don't want to deal with it at all. I've had PLENTY of wonderful people who've been kind and supportive and absolutely wonderful to me. But the bad luck has just outweighed everyone's kindness so heavily I can't keep up. And I'm a pretty positive guy....anyone who knows me, knows this is true, so for me to say this is not just a wimpy confession. I've been through a lot of shit trying to pay my dues which make for great memories but nowadays with a wife in stow and more debt than ever I just can't carry it all anymore.

OA: Speaking of touring, you have a series of shows coming up with one of my favorite performers, Emperor X. Have you ever played with Chad before? What do you think about his stage show?
DD: I've never met him nor seen him. But I'm excited to. We have a mutual friend in Ryland Bouchard (The Robot Ate Me) and I'm rather fond of Ryland as an individual. He's been a great friend throughout the years.

OA: The products that your wife makes are really interesting. How long has she been selling these items, and have your fans been supportive?
DD: She's been making these things for years and years....but she's only been my wife for five months so we're trying to get the word out on what she's doing as best as we can. It was near embarrassing on tour because she sold everything she had in two weeks and I just sat next to her and wished I was selling half as much...ha ha...I guess there isn't much to say, she wins. She makes a product people want more, especially my fans. We're definitely working to make what she's doing take as much if not more precedence to what I'm doing.

OA: What's next for Drew Danburry?
DD: I'm doing whatever I possibly can to record the next album amidst juggling two jobs and organizing whatever touring I can afford and muster come 2009 without neglecting my bills, my wife and everything else. It's actually quite a feat surviving the way things are going right now. We're barely avoiding going negative in our bank account with every check to check that comes in. It makes life interesting and fun.

Bonus Questions:
OA: If you could sit down to coffee with anyone (alive or dead) who would it be?
DD: Joseph Smith! Get it? Ha!

OA: What was the last great book you have read?
DD: The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester. I just finished it this last weekend. It was wonderful, I am officially converting into fanship of his writing and excited to look for more books he's written.

Listen to: I'm Pretty Sure (mp3)

For more information on Drew Danburry please visit his website.

Paint the Town Orange

2009-01-01T11:02:00.014-06:00

December 31st - Mad Maggie's - Elgin, IL - The Smoking Popes with Catfish Haven, Tall Dark Stranger and Kid, You'll Move Mountains

New Year's Eve is meant to be magicial, and last night was no exception. For a foolish boy who used to use songs like "Not That Kinda Girlfriend" and "Let's Hear for Love" to break up with girls it was an exciting and rejuvinating way to ring what promises to be the best year yet! Here are some incredible pictures taken by Brenda Behrends, and you can read a full write up on the evening at The Deli.

Kid, You'll Move Mountains

Catfish Haven

Josh Caterer of The Smoking Popes

Eli Caterer

Matt Caterer

Rob Kellenberger

The Smoking Popes

Writer's Corner

2009-01-01T08:36:00.000-06:00

Brandon Scott Gorrell

"i am asking the walls, "what can i do?"/i am whispering to the walls, "i can't think of anything i can do" - from Alienated Afraid of Furniture in Bedroom

What most young writers don't understand, as they sit in class or in the candle lit corner of their room and read Burroughs or Hemingway or Lowell, is that the most important part of being a writer is marketing. It is a business just like any other, and networking, promotion, and buzz, are three very important words. It all seems so romantic when read in a historical context, but with all of the talented writers surfacing each day what is going to set you apart?

Aside from the dominating nature of his hair, what will set Brandon Scott Gorrell apart is his ability to capture the raw and powerful emotions that he feels while tempering them with humor and a casual indifference. A good example of this would be his recent e-book, "Alienated Afraid of Furniture in Bedroom". He addresses fear, boredom, panic and near hallucinations, but in a way that is direct and descriptive. His forthcoming collection on Muumuu House, Durning My Nervous Breakdown I want to Have a Biographer Present, addresses similar issue but with an added element of Science Fiction.

Over the last year Brandon has been published quite a bit, but he has also shown a desire to publish and discuss others. He (with Chelsea Martin) recently published a literary journal called 'Great', and back in August he coordinated the writer/blogger crosstalk event that resulted in a day writers blogging about other writers. This is why I am happy to have him as my first interview of 2009.

Orange Alert (OA): You are among a group of young writers who seem to be building a persona through the internet. In several cases these persona's have translated well into print with a substantial number of sales. Do you feel blogs and on-line journals are valid ways to build a fan base? Do you feel that the on-line lit culture will supplant print at some point?
Brandon Scott Gorrell (BSG): If, by 'valid' you mean 'functional' then yes, I think blogs and online journals are valid ways to build a fan base. If, by 'valid' you mean 'appropriate' or something, then I don't know. That doesn't feel important to me. Maybe it does. It feels, I think, more important, in terms of building a fan base (the type of fan base I want, at least) to do 'inappropriate' things. 'Inappropriate' things probably generate more publicity.

I do not know if the online lit culture will supplant print at some point. I don't know enough about the history of print culture to really talk about that and I'm unsure about the terms you are using. Hemingway was getting published in literary magazines and reading literary magazines and noticing the names of the authors he liked that regularly appeared in those publications, probably, then sometimes meeting them, maybe, arranged by letter via post. Bukowski exchanged letters with a number of different writers who he liked and would sometimes meet them at readings and other places. Now there is email. Diane Williams, the editor of NOON, emails Tao Lin about edits she made to his submission or something. The AWP has a website. People order Blake Butler's book by reading his blog and using Paypal.

Print things have not stopped happening. I don't know if print things will stop happening. Right now everyone still just wants to have a book. Including me. I want a book. And to be in NOON. Also I want to be in the New Yorker and other places that will drastically affect the size of my audience.

OA: Speaking of print, you recently helped put together a magazine called "Great". What was it about this process that you enjoyed?
BSG: Most of it was hard and stressful. We wanted to get it completed and I felt pressure to complete it quickly because we solicited some contributors early in the process. I dislike when I get solicited for a magazine and then give them something and then it comes out 6 months later (as opposed to like a month later). So I didn't want to do that to anyone. But Chelsea and I had to send like 100 emails and Gmail chat for like 100 hours to decide on everything. That was difficult. I liked designing the pages. Designing the pages was easy, and a positive experience for me. I felt good while designing the pages. I liked talking to Chelsea on Gmail chat. A lot of the time we didn't talk about Great, we just talked about feeling bad, which I like doing. Also, I think I felt good putting the magazine together. I also liked to email the contributors, it made me feel professional or more important.

OA: You seem to work well with Chelsea Martin. Have you ever met her is person? What does she bring to your projects?
BSG: Yes, I have met Chelsea Martin in person. We like each other in person and online. Chelsea Martin is my friend. Chelsea Martin brings her viewpoint to our projects, which is different than mine. She has a good viewpoint.

OA: You have a collection of poetry coming out in June on Tao Lin's Muumuu House. What can you tell us DURING MY NERVOUS BREAKDOWN I WANT TO HAVE A BIOGRAPHER PRESENT?
BSG: My poetry book has poems I wrote from May 2007 to, I think, January 2008. It is about severe feelings of low self-confidence, alienation, and loneliness. It makes a lot of science fiction references. I think it could be a powerful seller in the 15 - 17 year-old-high-school-student-going-through-an-identity-crisis-market. It is 62 pages in a Word Document. I have designed the book jacket, and will do page design for it as well. It will be, physically, I think, the size of Matthew Rohrer's A GREEN LIGHT. It will be published in June 2009. I am unsure about the specifics of distribution. You can preorder it here.

OA: From the pictures I've seen your hair is very nice, but how will it defeat me?
BSG: We will be walking on the sidewalk on Capitol Hill in Seattle and two perfectly dressed hipsters will pass. They will compare my hair with your hair. Then one will machete your arm off. "Haha," I'll laugh.

OA: What's next for Brandon Scott Gorrell?
BSG: I have like 60% of the poems I want to use for my next poetry book in a Word document, unedited. I work on that like once every two weeks but more often write little things which I expect will go into there. I have a lot of a novel written and work on that 3 - 6 times a week. I wrote a 4,500 word story that I like a lot. I don't know what else. Probably the novel is the main thing.

Bonus Questions:
OA: What type of music do you enjoy and who are a few of your favorites?
BSG: I like WHY? I hardly listen to anything else. If I am not listening to WHY? then I will most likely be listening to Odd Nosdam, cLOUDDEAD, Boards of Canada, Nick Drake (The CD called Fruit Trees), Jens Lekman's first CD, or classical music.

OA: If you could have coffee with anyone (alive or dead) who would like to sit down with?
BSG: Right now, that person would be my girlfriend.

For more information and an excerpt from Brandon's new book please visit his website.

Artist of the Week

2008-12-31T07:03:00.000-06:00

Pierre-Paul Pariseau

In music they call it sampling, but when placed in the hands of an artist the results can be vibrant and surprisingly original. The same principles apply, cutting and pasting, layering images upon a bed of creative expression. It is more than just a remix of images, the product is a completely original piece. What is exciting is the endless supply of images and all the possibilities that lay within. The genre of mixed media is consistently growing, and the work of Montreal's Pierre-Paul Pariseau has been involved in the scene for years. His work has been seen in numerous magazine and he has won several awards.

Buzzing with vivid colors and an endless array images his mixed media work is bold and ever-changing. Recently, Pierre-Paul was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Orange Alert (OA): As a professional illustrator how do you balance personal work and professional work? Are there qualities in your personal work that you do carry over to your professional work?
Pierre-Paul Pariseau (PP): Personal work is as much important as professional work, and the contrary is true also. There are different qualities in both kind of work. The personal projects are very important because then you can let yourself go completely in the depths of your imagination, into a loose narrative. You can be "crazy" as you want, to surprise yourself as you never did before. My personal works do not always have clear meanings, they allow a wide space for interpretation. Being totally free it is more easy to experiment with the different technics (no deadline to respect, you have the time to re-do as you want) and to come out of this with interesting discoveries that you can use in commissioned works later, if relevant.

The constraints (subjects, sizes, delays, etc.) brought by the professional works can be an important challenge for the spirit. It is a positive experience that brings you into areas of discomfort that could be, at the end, very freeing. Again, you discover part of your imagination that you would probably not have otherwise. This state of mind can be used in your personal works later on.

Both kinds of artworks, the personal and the commissioned, are feeding each other.

OA: You work a lot with found images are there any legal issues involved with this type of art?
PP: Of course you have to be aware of the copyright laws when you use this medium. It is allowed to use part of photos. I transform so much the cutouts I use that the final image has absolutely nothing to do with the different sources it comes from. I never had any negative feedback about this all along my career so I must have "well behave", be respectful.

OA: You seem to utilize a lot of vivid colors in your work. What role does color play in your work?
PP: The colors play a very important role in my work. After the composition is done and it is pretty clear where I am going with this image it is the colors that brings everything into life. They create the energy between each part of the image, put emphasis on certain parts, give the general mood. I like vibrant and lively colors but working in b/w would be great also or in a certain tone if needed.

OA: In your professional work, is it difficult or painful to make alterations to your images? Have you ever refused to change an image?
PP: I never had any problem making alterations to my images. I probably have been lucky to work with experienced and sensitive art directors because I have learned a lot from them and the changes they asked me to do. This, especially, at the beginning of my career as I am a self-taught artist; I have learned the craft day by day doing commissioned works and the personal ones. I remember doing some compromises that were not at the best for the final result, according to me, but everybody was happy except me. I wouldn't do it again now.

Now that I have more experience I am not ask so often to change anything, I have a good idea what would be best for the picture and what is wanted from me by art directors. If there is a change although I always keep an open mind, I listen and I learn what there is to learn, concerning the picture or something else.

OA: Is there a specific quality or trait that makes a piece a Pierre-Paul Pariseau piece?
PP: I think that my style is easily recognizable. It is difficult for me to describe it although, you see it and that is it. The way I use the color, surrealism, pop, composition, humor; all these are used in my own personal way that makes a picture of mine easily recognizable. Other people can tell you more about this than me, perhaps I do not have enough distance from my work to describe my style with words easily.

OA: What's next for Pierre-Paul Pariseau?
PP: More illustrations to do with a various range of clients, plus a continuous collaboration with the current ones, I wish. A trip to Europe in the current year is also something expected.

Bonus Questions:
OA: If you could sit down for coffee with anyone (living or dead) who would it be?
PP: There could be so many people I would like to have dinner with. This question comes right at the time when I was discussing this with my girlfriend the other day and we had just seen an interview with Alice Cooper on TV. He was witty, humble, saying all kinds of interesting and funny anecdotes, that we said we would love to invite him for dinner (curious choice isn't it?), with friends and other famous people. These days I am reading books by Alexandro Jodorowsky and I would love to meet the man. Next week it could be someone else.

OA: In a past interview you mentioned that you listen to music while you work, who are a few of your favorites while painting and in general?
PP: I listen to all kinds of music but comes often electronica when working, bands like Fila Brazillia, Thievery Corporation, Bonobo, The Cinematic Orchestra, Morcheeba, etc.... But lately I have been listening to John Coltrane and Chet Baker. Tomorrow it could be French singers... and the day after some groovy hip-hop.

For more information on Pierre-Paul Pariseau please visit his website.

Gallery Watch

2008-12-30T07:34:00.001-06:00

Jason Robert Bell @ Thomas Robertello Gallery

Last month we talked to artist Jason Robert Bell (interview here) about his new inventive series of paintings, and now they will be unveiled at the Thomas Robertello Gallery. The Unreasoning Mask: New Revelations in Figurative Metaphysics opens on January 9th and runs through Feb. 21st. The title for the exhibit comes from Melville's Moby Dick, describing the nature of reality: "All visible objects, man, are but as pasteboard masks. But in each event - in the living act, the undoubted deed - there, some unknown but still reasoning thing puts forth the mouldings of its features from behind the unreasoning mask. If man will strike, strike through the mask!...How can the prisoner reach outside except by thrusting through the wall?" - Ahab to Starbuck

Jason's work freely explores the boundaries of reality and a world that only exists inside his mind. He is a graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and we are glad to have him back in Chicago. Opening reception Friday January 9, 5:00 - 8:00 pm at 939 W Randolph.

New Contest from Verve Bath Press

2008-12-29T16:21:00.001-06:00

verve bath press is holding a giveaway to ring in the new year! Win a copy of Fossil Fuels by Jessica Dawson! Review & Excerpts: (review, poem one, poem two)

Check out the details here and good luck!

Orange Alert Presents...

2008-12-29T11:51:00.005-06:00

ONE FOR THE TEAM!

If you thought that video was exciting you may have had too much egg nog, but you will not be disappointed this Friday at The Abbey Pub as Orange Alert sponsors Minnesota's One For The Team.

Here is my interview with the band from last May. Their sophomore album Build It Up was released in August by Militia Group. Addicted to the road, this is a band that has a tight set and great indie pop sound. If you're in Chicago come down to Abbey Pub this Friday, doors open at 8:00pm and the show starts at 9:00pm. Tickets are Tickets $6 in advance and $8 at the door.

The Orange Spotlight

2008-12-29T08:04:00.001-06:00

Blackout Beach Skin of Evil (Soft Abuse, Jan. 20th 2009)

"I walk into the gossip, fulfill my needs, eat to satiate that which has flown"

There is fine and delicate line between genius and fool, and Carey Mercer (Frog Eyes, Swan Lake) stumbles around that line like a drunk and rambling jester. On his latest effort as Blackout Beach, Carey takes a frightening look at emotional abuse, rejection, and all of the darkest emotions and thoughts of a lost soul. A soul who is tried of fighting, tired of losing, tired of a being assaulted by life. In these songs with titles that read like riddles you can hear cries and screams and the full on rage of someone who has reach the bottom of all that love and lust have to offer and is determined to scratch their way back up.

The subject of this story disguised as an album in Donna, who is unsure of who is in control but screams at the clouds nonetheless. She feels life at its most dramatic, and exposes skin and heart and mind. This album is theater, and is an extremely challenging listen. I had to listen to it three times before I began to feel like I understood where Mercer was going or intending to go. This is not a casual listen despite the electronic crunch of the opening track, "Cloud of Evil". As you will notice with the song titles, this is a complex tale and a journey into the soul of woman as perceived by a mad man.

Cloud of Evil (mp3)/Biloxi, In a Grove, Cleans Out His Eyes/Three Men Drown in the River William, the Crowd, It's William/The Roman/Woe to the Minds of Soft Men/The Whistle/Nineteen, One God, One Dull Star/Sophia, Donna, I Was Down the River Waiting/ Astoria, Menthol Lite, Hilltop, Wave of Evil, 1982 (mp3)

Bill Shute We'll All Get By... (Kendra Steiner Editions #123, Jan. 2009)

"to economize he's been drinking the teas from boxes he could not finish in better times"

Is it enough to "get by"? For many Americans the dawn of 2009 finds them in a mode in which they are fighting and scraping and screaming just to "get by". In the times that the media says we are living in, I ask is that enough? Now is the time to push harder, move farther and "see your way clear". This is the time to throw out the last remaining bags of tea and create your brand of tea. This year we must all strive to utilize our skills and wisdom and experience to push through and move far beyond any thoughts of struggle.

"Wisdom visits not through statement but through texture, through glance, through glance, through quivers and clammy handshakes, through overheard lies and unspoken hunger."

The phrase "unspoken hunger" grabbed me tonight. We will continue to just "get by" as long as our hunger remains unspoken. In 1969, Buzz Clifford may have had a hunger and desire to see his way clear. He had already been to the top and was trying make it there once again. In this collection by Bill Shute, he uses the thoughts and sounds of Buzz Clifford as a point of reference, but he is unable or unwilling to leave behind the panicked reality we are living in. He challenges the idea of struggle, and the appreance of a problem. He doesn't demand an answer, but challenges the reader to come to thwie own conclusion.

"We All Get By..." was printed in an edition of 32 copies, and I am holding #3. To order your copy pleased visit Kendra Steiner Editions today.

Holiday Break!

2008-12-22T07:34:00.002-06:00

December Playlist

Orange Alert is going to take this week off for the Holiday's, but while you anticipate our return you can (if you haven't already) download and enjoy our Holiday Guide. Here is a 9MB edition that contains just the guide. Enjoy and have a safe and blessed Holiday!

Artist: Megafaun
Album: Bury The Square
Release Date: Feb. 19th (Table of Elements)
Song: Lazy Suicide (mp3)

Artist: Basia Bulat
Album: Oh My Darling
Release Date: Feb 5th (Rough Trade)
Song: Why Can't It Be Mine (mp3)

Artist: Arms
Album: Kids Aflame
Release Date: July 22nd (Melodic UK)
Song: Whirring (mp3)

Artist: Fujiya & Miyagi
Albums: Lightbulbs
Release Date: Sept 9th (Deaf, Dumb & Blind)
Song: Knickerbocker (mp3)

Artist: High Places
Album: 03/07 to 09/07
Release Date: July 22nd (Thrill Jockey)
Song: Head Spins (mp3)

Artist: Chandeliers
Album: The Thrush
Release Date: April 14th (Obey Your Brain)
Song: Gold Rush (mp3)

Artist: Wild Sweet Orange
Album: We Have Cause to be Uneasy
Release Date: July 29th (Red Ink)
Song: Ten Dead Dogs (mp3)

Artist: The Dodos
Album: Visiter
Release Date: March 18th (Frenchkiss)
Song: Fools (mp3)

Artist: Passion Pit
Album: Chunk of Change
Release Date: Sept 16th (Frenchkiss)
Song: Sleepyhead (mp3)

Orange Alert's Music Minute

2008-12-21T06:21:00.000-06:00

Morrissey will release “Years of Refusal” in the US February 17, 2009 on Attack/Lost Highway. “Years of Refusal” will be Morrissey’s first studio album since 2006’s UK #1 “Ringleader of the Tormentors”. In February, Morrissey will begin the US leg of his world tour that includes rare intimate club dates. For this album, Morrissey returns to Jerry Finn who previsouly produced the hit You Are the Quarry.

Years of Refusal Tracklist
1. Something Is Squeezing My Skull
2. Mama Lay Softly On The Riverbed
3. Black Cloud
4. I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris
5. All You Need Is Me
6. When Last I Spoke to Carol
7. That’s How People Grow Up
8. One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell
9. It’s Not Your Birthday Anymore
10. You Were Good In Your Time
11. Sorry Doesn’t Help
12. I’m OK By Myself

Formed from the ashes of Troubled Hubble, Geneva's Kid You'll Move Mountains has been moving a few lately, and are primed for a big surge. Playing together since 2006, the band is now ready to release their debut album, Loomings. With a healthy mixture of standard indie pop and a slight tinge of midwestern country charm, KYMM is kicking of 2009 with energy and excitment. With a cover designed by MidwestLove Art & Design, the record release celebration will be held on January 2nd at Metro with The Sapiens, Picture Books, and Pool of Frogs.

Listen to: Volts (mp3)

The Present is the new project from Rusty Santos who just happens to be producer for Animal Collective, Panda Bear, and Gang Gang. Their first album was called World I See, and it was released back in October. The band is currently working the follow-up due out in the Spring.

Listen to: Love Melody (mp3)

Elizabeth Willis is a child-prodigy turned soulful grown woman. Willis, now 21-years-old, began playing violin and piano when she was only 4-years-old. Clearly evidenced by her lush, meticulously structured self-produced album, Willis’ lifetime of training and discipline adds particular sheen to each song’s heartfelt delivery. Her self-titled album was released back in September, and has recieved praise from NPR, Newsweek, URB, and more.

Listen to: One (mp3)

On December 23, Wallpaper.'s T REX ep will be re-released in new form, as T REX RMXd (eanie meanie records). Enlisting the help of friends Andrew Maury of The Remix Artist Collective, Bomarr of Restiform Bodies (Anticon), and Gavin Castleton (Five One, Inc.) to remix the ep, Wallpaper. breathes new life into the songs that earned them the SF Weekly Music Award in the Dance/Electro category. This EP will rock any party you have coming up, and recently they flexed their remix muscle and won Passion Pit's remix contest.

Listen to: Passion Pit - Sleepyhead (Wallpaper. Dio Remix) (mp3) and Wallpaper. - Evrytm We Do It (RAC Maury Remix) (mp3)

Don't miss out on the Thrill Jockey Musical Advent Calander. You get a free song everyday! Here is my favorite, The Cocktails - First Snowfall (mp3)

Haven't you always wondered what an album inspired by Mars would sound like? Well, Spain's Malaventura may have the answer. They are releasing a 26 minutes journey of electronics beats and pads, analogs drums and basses, noises and crashes, quiets and louds ambients inspired by and called Mars. Listen it and drawn into your mind the lowell’s canals or chat with Helene Smith and his martians friends. Take a journey through the Cydonia region and be careful in the Laestrygon area.

Listen to: Cydonia (mp3)

This is quite possibly the most honest Christmas song ever written, and it comes from our friends at Death to Anders.

Listen to: Our Manager Says That Writing A Christmas Song Is a Good Business Decision (because blogger will eat that sh*t up) (mp3)

The Peel Back: Pigface Washingmachine Mouth (Invisible Records, April 1993)

I always wanted to understand industrial music, but I never quite did. I was always more into the electronic aspects of the music, and only appreciated remixes or songs with a abstract dance beat. So it would make sense that the only Pigface album I ever owned was the remix ep Washingmachine Mouth. I bought it because (at the time) I thought it would be cool to own a Pigface album, but I enjoyed every inch of that tape. From ambient chopped up spoken word to club feel of "Satan on the Inside Looking In" to post punk of "Cuting Face". It may not be their traditional sound, but it is now what I think of when I hear the name Pigface.

Flowers Are Evil/Cutting Face/Satan On The Inside Looking In (Red Around The Eye)/Satan On The Inside Looking In (The Calm Before The Storm) (mp3)/Satan On The Inside Looking In (The Return of Wet Brain 2000)/Cutting Face-Gas Mask Mix/Satellite-Needle In The Groove No Damage Done/Prepare To Die Go! Go! Go!/The Last Word

The Watch List

2008-12-20T07:46:00.002-06:00

Listening:
1. Winter Gloves: With a full-length album due in March this Montreal band has recorded a cover of one of my favorite songs of all-time. You should also check out their digital ep due in Feb. called Let Me Drive (mp3). Listen to: Someone Great (LCD Soundsystem Cover) (mp3)
2. Thunders: Indianapolis is home to this fuzzy jangle-pop group. Their music is fun and fresh. They just released their debut ep THE SYMPATHETIC OSCILLATIONS.
3. Brighten Up: Combining electronic music with organic instrumentation and vocals, this Chicago band is tearing up the local scene. Listen to: Fond (mp3)

Reading:
1. Shaving by Ben Segal: Duct taped eyelids are not the best way to avoid eye contact.
2. A Thousand Miles Away by Kyle Hemmings: A chilling winter tale.
3. Two Poems by G. Emil Reutter: Stories from Philly.
4. Punches by Daniel Casebeer: Short, but action-packed. It made me want to listen to The Shins.
5. A Manifesto is an Invoice by Tung-Hui Hu: A manifesto about writing a manifesto.
6. Duck Sauce by Mike Topp: It's a minute, but read it twice.
7. Flash Flicker Fire by Mary Hamilton: Mary read this at the last Orange Alert Reading and it was amazing!

Wishing:
1. Keyhole Issue #5
2. redblackbrown calander

Getting:
1. Adele "Melt My Heart" (Johnny Polygon and Green Lantern Remix) (mp3)
2. Novel's 808's & Mixtapes

Watching:
1. Theresa Andersson "Birds Fly Away" (mp3)
2. Tokyo Police Club "Your English is Good"
3. Sidewalk Chalk "Lights Out"
4. Yea Big & Kid Static "Mega Man" (Live)
5. Gable "Drunk Fox in London"

GaBLé / Drunk fox in London
Uploaded by yannick-lecoeur

Band of the Week

2008-12-19T06:58:00.002-06:00

Skew

The sounds you record while hidden away in your bedroom or deep in the basement are always recorded with an audience in mind, but you never know if your recordings will see the light of day. As you see live footage of Skew's studio or of his live performances it is clear that his sound is the result of personal experimentation. He combines live distorted guitar with an MPC2000, and the results are incredibly complex, danceable and surprisingly organic.

Skew is a NYC musician, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. A graduate of Berklee College of Music, he enlisted the help of fellow New York producer Shakeyface to help created his self-titled debut album. The results were released on Shakeyface's label It's Bananas Label on November 11th, and has been receiving very positive press.

Recently Skew was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Orange Alert (OA): I really enjoyed your debut album, but I have seen a review or two that have not been as positive. Do you read the reviews, and do they every affect the way you look at your album?
Skew: Well the cool answer would be to say that I don't read reviews. The honest answer is I read pretty much everything written. I try to not let it affect me too much but when you're a solo act and you don't have a band who all believe in the record, a less than favorable review can create momentary but crushing waves of self doubt.

OA: They album was released on It's Bananas Music. What has it been like working with Shakeyface and It's Bananas?
Skew: It's been great. Shakeyface (Doug) is a long time friend so it makes the whole process a lot more fun. Also he's a great producer so it helped to have someone who's opinion you trusted particularly when it came to choosing what tracks would end up on the record.

OA: The video for Stadiums Are Ok Too is great. How did you get involved with Stephen Key and how much input did you have on what he created?
Skew: I really wanted a video for that song but didn't know anybody who was up for the task. So, my girlfriend placed an ad on craigslist and we got a fair amount of responses. After looking at samples of their work I knew he was going to be the perfect choice. His work has a certain whimsical quality that I thought would fit the song well. When it came to him doing the video I gave him zero input. More or less just told him do your thing.

OA: I watched the brief clip of your studio and all of that vinyl on your shelves. What is your songwriting process like? How much of your music is sample based and how much is live instrumentation?
Skew: I used to do a lot of sampled based work. In regard to this record I didn't use any samples. I recorded with an MPC2000, a Mikrokorg, Guitar and some effect pedals.

OA: You also record as I LOVE MY MPC 2000 BUT I'VE CHOSEN PROG METAL, what is the difference between the two projects? When you record or think of a melody how do you know which project it should belong to?
Skew: ILMMPC2000 was initially started to be a dark, experimental project. Something that was and is supposed to be a bit self indulgent in terms of doing lots of edits and time signature changes etc.. With Skew I always want to keep it somewhat grounded in pop music in the broad sense.

OA: Instrumental and electronic music seems to be gaining in popularity. What are your thoughts on the current state of electronic music?
Skew: My listening habits tends to shift a lot. The past year I've been listening to a lot of pop stuff both old and new. Kanye West, The Killers, Syd Barrett and The Kinks have all been in heavy rotation. As far as electronic stuff that has excited me people like Burial, Flying Lotus and Eliot Lipp are all doing stuff that's really amazing, individual and with out concern for flavor of the minute trends.

OA: What's next for Skew?
Skew: I hope to doing a lot of live shows this year. And I've already started working on the next record which I think is going to be a big shift musically and will most likely have vocals on every track. But right now I'm just excited about having this record out and I want to do whatever I can to support it.

Listen to: Stadiums are Ok (mp3) and Stadiums are Ok (Sound of Arrows Remix) (mp3)

For more information on Skew please visit his website.

Reader Meet Author

2008-12-18T07:15:00.001-06:00

Andy Riverbed

"My thirst is quenched by the flavors of cinematic waters."

The word experimental can mean different things to different people, but essentially it means to test what you know. To experiment is to make an effort towards discovery. In his debut collection, Damaged, Andy Riverbed experiments with several different styles. What he discovers is an ability to convey a idea regardless of form. The ability to creatively express his experience thus far.

Andy Riverbed is a young poet with a punk mentality. His debut collection is being released by Coatlism Press on January 1st, but it is available for preorder now. Recently, Andy was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Orange Alert (OA): What does it mean to be experimental?
Andy Riverbed (AR): In context to Damaged, I think my being experimental only means that I was young and I was obsessed with certain aesthetic principles. Some poems from that collection are from when I was obsessed with French Symbolist poets, others are all about letting it all out, and then there was a while I wanted the poem in print to look exactly like the poem I had written on paper, or wherever it happened that I wrote the verses on; so, then if I crossed out a word in the hardcopy, there’d be a representative space for it on the printed version. Then there was me being obsessed with saying a lot with nothing, and that created some nice experiments as well, I think. Now experimental doesn’t mean much to me. Now I’m all about people understanding me. I’m all about connecting.

OA: I really like how you had William Joyner do illustrations for Damaged. Where did that idea come from and how did you decide on Williams’ work?
AR: My first desire to make a collection was to get into the Jack Micheline Memorial contest. I thought that with drawings by William, I’d win, but that didn’t matter because it was a contest judging poetry. Just me being young and retarded. But William is a great man. I met when I lived in West Palm. I worked full-time as a bookseller at Barnes & Noble. William, at the time, was homeless. From my understanding, he’s been that way since the 80s. He was there every morning when I worked, reading and drawing, so I made a connection with him. We’d talk about everything; I’d tell him my problems, how shitty I felt, my jonesing. We’d talk about anything. He’d come over and smoke pot and eat with me and once we watched I (heart) Hukabees, and he made a comment about there being no black people in the movie. I told him that wasn’t true, that in the movie there was a man blacker than he (William) was. A couple months later he called me laughing, telling me I was one of the funniest people he’d ever met, because he saw the movie again, and he told me, “Yes, you were right; the black man in the movie is blacker than me. He’s from Africa!” I laughed so hard that day. I think it was a sad day too. Maybe it was cold that day. Maybe I felt alone. That happens a lot. William kicks ass, and how could I not decide on a man like him. I think working with William, and knowing him, is, in my opinion, one of the most important and fulfilling occurrence of my life.

OA: Speaking of Damaged, what has your experience been like thus far with Coatlism Press?
AR: At times working with them is awesome, at time it’s very problematic. There’s a lot of distance between us. All interaction is done through email. It’s faceless; there’s a lot of room for misunderstandings, and I think at times egos jump up and fuck shit up. This is my first time working with a publisher, and I have learned a lot. It’s been a good experience and I’m glad I’ve gone through it.

OA: I saw a video of you reading at a punk show. What was that like? Do you feel your work works well in that setting?
AR: You need to understand that I’m a punk rocker. I feel traditional readings are too tame. They can be boring, except when it’s Pete Dexter. Now that’s one funny motherfucker. Punk rock shows are spontaneous. Shit gets fucked-up. Sometimes I go to MFA readings and look at people’s faces, then I fall asleep with my eyes open and smile and fall on my face. I think some of my work goes better than other works. It depends on the crowd. I’ve read for a variety of crowds. When it’s folky-punk or indie-pop stuff, then the crowd tends to be more into it. Once I read before Battle! and all the kids were being obnoxious, so I read with a lot of attitude. Some kids were funneling beer, I think it’s called a beer pong, I don’t know, seems a very disgusting way to consume any liquid, let alone shitty, cheap beer. So, point is, I slapped the fucking thing out of their hands and kept on reading, and the kids started shouting, and people were asking for Battle!, so I just got through two pieces, and half-way through the third, I left without saying anything. But while I was reading, till then, I was being as annoying as possible.

OA: You have an interesting title over at Thieves Jargon. What is your actual responsibility with them and what are your thoughts on the "winding down" that Matt has mentioned?
AR: My responsibility is to read certain works rejected by the editors and to respond to them, giving that submission a personalized, creative rejection, as opposed to the standard, “I’m sorry but you work just doesn’t fit in here. Thank you! –faceless editor you shall never connect to.” The reason why the editors choose one work to send to me as opposed to another is a secret I do not know and have spent many hours, while creating these messages of light (as I like to think of them), trying to figure out. I read the work and if I see that some aspect of the piece held it from getting into the Jargon, I will exploit that and try to make it as clear to the writer that that was (or at least was partial) the reason they got rejected.

Here’s an example:
Submission:

A Cold Lunch
The jukebox held nothing but old metal. The kind that scared parents back in the early 1980's. Every album cover depicted a cheesy demon and fire ensemble. It was enough to make one throw up which is why there was most always a trashcan next to the jukebox filled with puke.

Rejection:

Andy Riverbed

Ambassador of Occasional Sorrow
Thieves’ Jargon Rejection

The kids came after school every afternoon and took the trashcan with them. They always knew what to do with things like that. They were creative and efficient, the bartender thought, and he allowed them to take the trashcan full of puke. Now he didn’t have to deal with the stench, and the drips. What they did, he did not know, probably something to help the environment. They were always talking about this thing called “Global Warming.”

But the victims knew. The kids, between themselves, would tie a rope to the trashcan and lift it up to varying roofs of the neighborhood. On the roof, they’d roll up blunts and open cans of dollar beer. They’d feel buzzed and begin shouting obscenities at people. Their victims of choice were frat-boys, but at times a good citizen would suffer; and maybe at times a pretty girl, one of those hipsters with a trendy haircut, a nice jacket, and a cool, neon purse, would have the trashcan full of puke fall on her.

About the winding down: que sera, sera. I’m being moved up to co-editor soon. I might still be the Ambassador if need calls.

OA: What's next for Andy Riverbed?
AR: I’m trying to get my BAs and move to a big city, maybe out of the country. Till then, I’m going to keep on doing what I’ve been doing: living, writing, making art with my friends here in Gainesville. I want to do more translations. I’ve been inviting people. I want to distribute indie lit too. I volunteer at the Wayward Council, a D.I.Y. volunteer-run record store, and have some stuff on consignment (Delphine) there. I want to expand this and get more stuff down here. I also want to get connected with some more Hispanic writers. I’m trying to do shit with homeboys of mine from Puerto Rico. I want to come out with a story collection next year, and I’m planning on getting a whole bunch of similarly themed pieces into one and come out with a novel or novella, whatever it turns out to be.

Bonus questions:
OA: What type of music do you listen to and who are a few of your favorites?
AR: I love punk rock, indie-pop, postpunky shit, ambient-noise; I like bebop jazz. I like a lot of shit. If it’s good and not sell-out contrived bullshit, I’ll probably be into it. I like that dance-punk shit too. Records I can’t stop listening to lately: No Bunny, “Slippery Subject” – the Bananas, Elliot Smith (anything), “Disconnected” – Stiv Bators, “Ten Rapid” – Mogwai. I’m at the library now, and my records are at home. I’m also an affected boy, so therefore, my memory lapses. “Soy una punk” (song) – Aerolineas Federales.

OA: Beside your own, do you have a favorite chapbook of 2008?
AR: “Down where the Hummingbird goes to Die” – Justin Hyde
“Gravity’s Rainbow/Mason & Dixon” – Shane Jones & Chris Killen
“Cognitive Behavioral Therapy” – Tao Lin
“Hey, Baby” – anonymous
“Yum, Yum, I can’t wait to Die” – Sam Pink

I think I have some more, but like I said with the other question, my good shit’s somewhere else and I got a shitty memory.

For more information on Andy Riverbed and Damaged please check out this website.

Artist of the Week

2008-12-17T07:03:00.000-06:00

VoodooToaster

As I walked through the isles of this years DIY Trunk Show here in Chicago there were so many discoveries to be made. From jewelery to plushies to prints to shirts, but one of my favorites was a collection of shadow boxes filled with tiny collections of discarded items by VoodooToaster. From old cassettes (still functioning) to stamps to seashells and bells, these mirco-collections are a salute to the forgotten and rejected. Each box is unique, and as I talked with Anna Gregoline and Jesse Thomas (who is also a local musician) about the boxes they could not have been nicer.

It became clear that these boxes had purpose and that Anna and Jesse were passionate about giving meaning back to the forgotten. What fascinated me was the detail and nostalgia of it all. It felt like each collection had been hand selected and placed in a specific way. These were not mass produced, these were honest representations of what Anna and Jesse felt needed to be gathered together.

Recently, Anna from VoodooToaster was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Orange Alert (OA): Where did the name VoodooToaster come from?
Anna Gregoline (AG): I've always been intruiged by toasters - they are the only common kitchen appliance that has one function - to magically change bread into toast! Such a slight and yet important change. One day I started thinking about this transformation and how it changes bread into something else that is almost the same - the undead bread! The name VoodooToaster was born out of that somehow.

OA: I am fascinated by your shadow boxes. Where do you find the items that go into the boxes?
AG: Everywhere! We get our shadowbox items from all over the place - we've collected scrap metal from other artists, found broken eyeglasses on the street, received boxes of broken jewelry from friends and sometimes purchased weird miniature toys in junk shops. Once you let people know you're in the "cast-off junk" collecting business, it's not hard to get a collection of things ripe for gluing to other things.

OA: How long does it take to complete a box and when do you know it is finished?
AG: It ranges - sometimes a box is completed in a flurry, over one day or a weekend, but much more often we work on one for a while and then hang it on the wall. It usually stays on the wall for a few weeks, coming down every now and then for additions, and then returning to the wall. Once one feels done, it is, and we name it and label it. Even after that, sometimes we find the perfect addition and have to alter it further.

OA: With stamps, cassettes, and pocket watches, it seems like you both are rebelling against progress while making beautiful art. Is this a fair assessment?
AG: Yes. We are children of the end of the 20th century, and beholden to such wonderfully obscure ephemera as instant photos, cassette tapes, and snail mail… and we think perhaps people at times long for these ancient technologies, for the limited range of choices they entail. It’s important that all the cassettes still function too, so the shadowboxes can be experienced on an aural as well as visual level. Tape decks not included.

OA: How did you get involved with Sacred Art and what has your experience been like with them?
AG: We met Sara, the owner, at the DIY Craft Show a few years ago, and she expressed interest in having our work at her gallery. Our relationship has been nothing short of a blessing. Sarah has not only given us a venue for our ideas but, because we are always trying to generate something new ostensibly ‘for the gallery’, has had the remarkable side-effect of advancing our work, mutating it at an accelerated speed. We love Sarah and hope to continue working with Sacred Art for as long as possible.

Bonus Questions:
OA: Coffee? If yes where can you find the best cup in your area?
AG: Jesse works at Kopi Café at 5317 North Clark, and the coffee is excellent.

OA: What type of music do you enjoy, and who are a few of your favorites?
AG: We both enjoy DC Dischord rock and roll, electronic music, and howlingly intense noise rock. We sometimes dance in our kitchen to the Slits Cut. If you just happened to drop in on us, there’s a good chance we’d be listening to Talking Heads The Name Of The Band Is Talking Heads. But a lot of our music listening time is spent actually making music. We have our own live music act called Feedbacula which is improvisational electronic free-form love jazz…and Jesse is the leading man in a power trio called Genius School, like a 21st century Grand Funk Railroad…he is also the guitarist for local legends ONO who do things like slam sheet metal around and such.

For more information on the work of VoodooToaster please visit their website.

New Release Tuesday

2008-12-16T08:59:00.000-06:00

Music:

JT Nero - Demons/Demons Listen to: Who Shot Sam Cooke (mp3)

Fall Out Boy - Folie á Deux

All-American Rejects - When The World Comes Down

Ghostface Killah - Ghostdeini The Great

Heavy D - Vibes

Plies - Da Realist

DVD:

Mamma Mia!

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

The Orange Spotlight

2008-12-15T06:46:00.000-06:00

Now, Now Every Children Cars (Afternoon Records, Dec. 9th)

"Go where you want to"

What seems like high school fancy and fairy tale can quickley become reality. High school friends and marching bands mates, Cacie Dalager and Bradley Hale (aka Now, Now Every Children) have been making brisk Minnesota music together for a few years now. Last year they signed to Afternoon Records and released two critially acclaimed eps. Their sound quickly became well loved and respected. It's a simple method, but Cacie vocals ring clear and vibrant over her aggressive guitar play. Bradley keeps the beat and drives the artistic direction of the band.

On their debut album, Cars, there is a complex innocence that radiates in Cacie's vocals. Your charmed, but as you listen deeper you witness the struggle of youth. It's the battle between boredom and desire, endless days and the drive to become all that you have dreamed of. It is that battle between enjoying your youth and living your life. Cacie captures that tension perfectly and makes you wish you were starting your journey all over again.

Not One, But Two/Everyone You Know/Have You Tired/Sleep Through Summer/Friends With My Sister/In My Chest/Headlights/In The City/We Know Martha Webber/Little Brother/Cars (mp3)

Drew Kalbach The Zen of Chainsaws and Enormous Clippers (Paper Hero Press, Oct. 2008)

"The menu never changes. Nobody complains. Salt is the spice of life, but lawns are kept manicured, immaculate and almost false in their unchanging greenery."

Life is basically nonsense. We attempt to organize and plan and make some sense of everything. Yet, most moments feel random and uncontrolled, but as wee dig, explore, and evaluate we may discover a fleeting purpose. It is this odd sense of random logic that Drew Kalbach throws on to paper. Words and phrases seem to collide without focus and purpose, but suddenly there is a brief flash of subtle but substantial intention and clarity.

For example, "Problems With Missing Sock Logic", "Bits of chocolate wrappers dot the desk like eraser shavings and pencil skin." or in "How to Remove a Pair of Pants Without Causing Jealousy", "There are different methods of waiting, like tulips wilting or cars honking at a red light." It's a clever combination of thoughts that may or may not mean something at some point. I feel this thoughts should be taken at their suface level. In fact, Drew alludes to this in his authors note, "there is no depth, i wrote it all in a word document in 24 hours, it's meaningless, just random words from television commercials strung together." Where I don't fully believe that I also don't discount it. Whether the meaning is projected by the reader or it is actually implied there is a meaning and purpose to this collection. Perhaps you should investigate the contents for yourself.

Orange Alert's Music Minute

2008-12-14T07:35:00.000-06:00

If music notes were colors, Dim Dim would be the brightest rainbow imaginable. Dim Dim is back with its sixth full-length album, Whip (Audio Dregs) and an obsession for all forms of sonic pop culture. Tossing fistfuls of guitar, ukulele, programmed beats, twisted synth and toy instruments into a blender, Dim Dim hits "liquefy”, and surfs the sonic mixture as it spills across his musical universe. Deconstructing all things known and leaving a trail of brightly colored debris, Dim Dim has turned his back to the norm and rip-shredded a technicolored path to a genre unknown.

Check out this video preview!

Is there already a genre for slacker surf rock? A lazy, drunk, San Diego Punk who blogs about classic hop, Wavves has recorded another album filled with hazy and distorted melodies. The first album was called "Wavves", and the forthcoming album, due in February on De Stijl is called "Wavvves". It subtle, but still a little disturbing. In fact the two albums have similar covers. Maybe one day Nathan Williams move beyond fuzzy basement rock and blurry skate tricks, but in February we can once again revel in the boredom and the simpleness of youth. Beside any album that features three songs with the word "goth" in the title has to be worth a listen, right?

Listen to: So Bored (mp3)

Early Warning! Lady Sov is back! Lady Sovereign is releasing a new record called "Jigsaw" out April 7, 2009 on Midget Records which is her new independent label that has a global partnership with EMI. She is giving away her new song "I Got You Dancing" on her website and myspace.

Listen to: I Got You Dancing (Link)

From sloppy slacker punks to well constructed and thoughtful indie folk ballads. Or, The Whales have managed to combine the mainstream country pop of Counting Crows with the epic storytelling of the Decemberists. The band's debut album Light Poles and Pines (Seany, Jan 20th) can be omnipotent and epic ("Life and Death at Sea"), painfully reflective ("Rope Don't Break"), or both ("Fight Song"). On "Life and Death at Sea," defeated, raspy lead vocals sink under a whining pedal steel until pulled up by rousing harmonies. In contrast, "Call and Response", the CD's lead single, is a whiskey-soaked energetic anthem with a raucous and contagious rhythm that belies a reflective commentary. And really, that's the secret behind Or, the Whale's draw: their songs are honest, intelligent, and offer a refreshing modern connection to traditional American music.

Listen to: Call and Response (mp3)

Can you imagine a co-ed boy band assembled to create teen pop experimental on a label run by Negativland? Well, you don't have to imagine anymore, meet Poptastic. The basic concept is accessible and humorous, yet buried in the layers of sound is a complex web of mixing, remixing, editing, re-editing, arranging, and de-arranging that continues to reveal something new with each listen. What is interesting is that Poptastic creates music with the purpose of sampling their own music and rearranging it to create a new pop sound.

Listen to: Are You Happy? (mp3)

Erran Baron Cohen (brother of Sacha Baron Cohen and composer of the original music for Borat and Da Ali G Show) released a Hanukkah CD on November 18 called Songs In The Key Of Hanukkah (New Line Records.) On the record, Baron Cohen updates, remixes and expands the music associated with Hanukkah. Based on the work of Erran's brother I fully expected this album to be a joke, but this is seriously an entertaining, sincere, and diverse collection of songs. With everything from hip hop to latin tinged to reggae to r&b ballads, Erran uses all forms of music to his respects to this Jewish Holiday.

Listen to: Dreidel (mp3)

The latest album on the Joyful Noise label is the debut album from The Delicious. It was back in October that I first heard about The Delicious on Daytrotter, and I was captivated by their strong pop sensibilities. If you are looking for good, clean, joyful pop melodies then check out The Delicious' self-titled debut album on January 20th. Also, if you are a fan of Joyful Noise then you need to check out their 2009 Digital Sampler and get a sneak peak at all their upcoming releases.

Listen to: Suspended in Air (mp3)

The Watch List

2008-12-13T06:44:00.000-06:00

Listening:
1. The Mystery Books: A young band from Florida with a history that includes a video by Tao Lin. You can download their debut album Russia from cllct.com for free.
2. Dead Pixels: A new band from very diverse backgrounds including Egypt, France, Denmark and the UK. Listen to: So You Say (mp3)
3. Soft Speaker: This Chicago band is currently recording their debut album, but they are playing a free show at the Empty Bottle on Dec. 29th.

Reading:
1. Let's Drink Our Way Through Winter by Ted Powers: Something has to get us through winter.
2. Slide it across the floor with your foot by Becky Hunt: Birthdays can be tough.
3. Generation by Meagan Wilson: This has some unique visuals.
4. Insulate, Insulate by Martin Brick: A rapid description of an early mid-life crisis.
5. HAIRHEADLAND by Shane Jones: This seems to be Shane's attempt at writing a fairy tale, and what an enjoyable but strange attempt it is.
6. An Occasional Bird Finds Itself in the Wrong Dream-Set & Exits after Disorientation by Jessica Bozek: Got Milk?
7. Shoplifting From Urban Outfitters by Victoria Trott: I feel sorry for Jane.

Wishing:
1. Wearable Toy Piano
2. TLE Holiday Special: Music + Comic + T-Shirt = $49!
3. Knuckle Sandwich Necklace

Getting:
1. Count & Sinden's Mega Mega Mega
2. "Interlude with Starlings" from littleBANG!: This one of my favorite finds of the last year.

Watching:
1. The Acorn "Crooked Legs"
2. The Shys "Savior"
3. Team Genius "Take Me Home"
4. Interview with Khaled Hosseini
5. Fol Chen "Believers" (mp3)

Fol Chen - The Believers from Asthmatic Kitty on Vimeo.

Band of the Week

2008-12-12T05:41:00.003-06:00

Luke Jackson

"Come tomorrow in the depths of my despair/I am frightened, I'm enlightened, I'll survive/Beg or borrow, I could lose it I don't care/I can taste it, I won't waste, I'm alive"

There are moments in life that are filled with a strange and confusing mixture of emotions. It doesn't seem possible, but you feel lost and found, free and trapped, frightened and alive all in the same breath. In the first single from the latest album by Luke Jackson, "Come Tomorrow", he talks about the morning after he reaches the "depths of his despair". Several years ago Poet Hosho McCreesh describe the feeling like this, "Nights where you're sure you've walked your last cold mile, nights where you're convinced that this world ain't exactly the place for you." McCreesh talked about coming through the other side and all that you can learn from the journey and the struggle. "You ain't never seen a sunrise like the ones you see the day after one of those nights." I am sure that through out the song writing process, just as in any journey, there are moments of glory and pain, triumph and sleep deprivation. Through it all, Luke Jackson has crafted an album that is honest in style and lyric, and will help, if only briefly, pull you into the morning.

Recently, Luke Jackson was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Orange Alert (OA): And Then Some... is filled with a lot of personal thoughts and expressions, when you write do you ever picture the listener or think of who might be hearing your thoughts? Luke Jackson (LJ): God no. I’d never write a thing if I thought like that. I write for my own expression first and foremost. The only concession I make to any future audience is to be sure to bury most of my meanings in at least two inches of fertile metaphor. This serves two purposes...it protects me from exposing myself too much, and it leaves the songs open to the interpretation of the listener. Hopefully, whatever I originally wrote the song about becomes completely irrelevant, and in time, I myself forget.

OA: The album also spans several years of your life, and several communications with Magnus Börjeson. Overall, what does it feel like to finally have this finished product?
LJ: Well, I should correct you here. My correspondence with Magnus never concerned these songs. Indeed, he and Christoffer (Lundquist, my producer) asked NOT to hear the demos I had recorded of the songs in advance of the sessions. I showed up on the first day of recording and sat in front of them and Jens (Jansson, drummer) in the studio’s big live room and played them the entire album on my acoustic guitar. That was the first they heard of any of the songs. Within an hour of that we were recording the first bed tracks, live off the floor. It was very spontaneous.
To answer the second part of your question, the album was finished almost a year ago, and it feels as good to have released it now as it felt to have finished it then. I’ve been nursing this project for some time now, and it’s quite fulfilling to be getting the great feedback I’ve had from folks like yourself. But in truth, there’s nothing more rewarding that the creative process. I’ve been in “business mode” with this album for the last year and I would much rather just be free to write and record songs. Unfortunately, an independent artist today must be a jack-of-all-trades and I doubt I’ll be doing much creative work until the promotional aspect of this album is over.

OA: What has your experience been like with Popsicle Records?
LJ: Following on from the last question, Popsicle is my own label. I set it up last year, first to release the long lost 1995 album by Magnus’s old band Favorita, and now this new album of mine is on the label, co-released with Urban Myth, the label of my dear friend Dan Bryk, a brilliant singer/songwriter himself. I spent a fair bit of the last year hawking the album around some of the more discerning indie labels and they all said the same thing: “we love the album but we’re not looking for anything new...the music business is imploding on itself and there isn’t any money”. Being on my own label is a lot of fun in many ways, and very frustrating in others. I’m an idealist and a perfectionist, and that can get expensive. There’s not a label in the world that would have let me put out a gatefold LP, half-speed mastered and pressed on 180 gram virgin vinyl, or a custom 45/DVD package, or the elaborate packaging I did for the CD for that matter. That was all stuff I wanted to do because I believed in the record, and there was no-one to tell me “no”. The flip-side is that it’s a huge responsibility to try to make sure I’m giving the album the best chance it has to get out there and reach people. In the end, I’m better off doing this myself. I’m a bit of a control freak, and if I was on a small a label I’d just sit around wondering if they were actually DOING anything. This way, I know exactly what the label is doing!

OA: I really enjoyed the video for "Come Tomorrow". I know this song was written a while ago, but it seems fitting for all that is going on in the world these days. Do you feel that song has taken on a new meaning these days?
LJ: Hmm, I don’t really know what I can tell you about this song. I wrote it a couple of days before gong into the studio with Christoffer, Magnus and Jens in January 2007, and it was mostly inspired by how excited I felt to be recording with my friends in Sweden, with a little bit about my most recent tribulations thrown in for good measure. Like I mentioned earlier, the meaning I associate with any song is quite irrelevant. If the song has meaning to you, it’s served its purpose. I’m glad you like the video. We froze our butts off making that!

OA: Do you find it easier to make an album then to tour and promote an album? As a smaller act, is it getting more difficult to tour?
LJ: I haven’t done a huge load of touring. I love to get out and play, and rarely turn down a gig, but I was never one to get into a van and drive to Vancouver and back, playing every toilet along the trans-Canada highway. I never did it in my 20’s and I’m not about to start in my 30’s. It’s a Catch-22. You have to tour to build an audience, but touring doesn’t pay unless you have a lot of people coming out to see you. I’m trying to use the net to build my audience, then I’ll tour wherever I’m wanted. I have friends whose live show is their “product” and album sales are a by-product. I feel quite strongly that this album IS my “product”. It’s just that no-one pays for music anymore. Oops.

OA: What's next for Luke Jackson?
LJ: All thing being equal I’m be becoming a Father for the first time at the end of January. It’s hard to really even consider any of the other aspects of my life in light of that. Hopefully we’ll be coming up for air by the Springtime and I can think about picking up promotional activities then. It would be great if I got into SXSW...I would play a bunch of shows on the way down there, maybe with my band if I could afford it. Oh, and there’s a brilliant animated video for Goodbye London in production. A genius London-based animator friend is working on it. It’s like nothing you’ve ever seen!

Come Tomorrow (mp3)

Luke Jackson - Come Tomorrow from Fanatic Promotion, Inc. on Vimeo.

Bonus Questions:

OA: Coffee? If yes, where can you find the best cup in your area?
LJ: There’s a new place called Lit which just opened up on Roncy and it blows everyone else on the strip out of the water. Their mocha is beyond. And they do a chocolate brownie that defies description. Really, I need never try heroin now.

OA: What was the last great book you have read?
LJ: I recently read Dan Savage’s book “The Commitment”. He writes the nationally-syndicated sex column “Savage Love” and this book is about his family life with his boyfriend and their adopted son, and the ultimate decision of whether or not they should get married. It’s hysterical and touching and everything in between. I feel quite strongly that Dan Savage’s voice is one of the most important in America today.

For more information on Luke Jackson please visit his website.

Reader Meet Author

2008-12-11T07:46:00.000-06:00

Jeffrey Kuczmarski

"The sun was bright and terrible on my face so I took a healthy swig of whisky before I fully opened my eyes." from Max Find (found in Danger City)

From the first line of Jeffrey's hard-boiled short story about a drunken and dangerous detective I was hooked. It has that Maltese Falcon, old fashion sense of romance. No not the man and woman type of romance, the style and era and genre that Jeffrey revels in has this nostalgic charm, but still pushes and explores towards something fresh and exciting. There is danger and drinking and action, that is what draws people to pulp or hard-boiled fiction, but it is the quality of the writing that will keep you reading Jeffrey's work. Jeffrey is not only a writer, he actually attended the Art Institute of Chicago and makes relief prints. In a way they are just as shadowy and intriguing as his writing.

Recently, Jeffrey was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Orange Alert (OA): Is there a certain formula for writing pulp fiction?
Jeffrey Kuczmarski (JK): The hardboiled variety of pulp fiction is an attitude, a lens, through which characters view the world. Crime is the one certainty and acts as the fulcrum which sets the characters in motion. Location is essentially irrelevant. Unless it's a locked room farce, it doesn't matter if Boris was stabbed to death in the throat on the crapper or at the theater. Boris was murdered and that's a catalyst for character interaction and it's that spark between characters that's the sweet spot for me. The characters need to make decisions and what they do or don't do, determines outcome. If the interaction is good enough it won't matter whether Boris was a Russian godfather's nephew or the trash collector as long as the story which unfolds is compelling and has the momentum to rocket the reader down the investigation freeway. Whiskey, goons with shoulder hair to spare, scantily clad dames in distress and a stiletto in the eye are a distinct possibility. Donkeys are optional.

OA: I really enjoyed "Max Find", and as I read I couldn't help but hear the voice of Sam Spade. It feels like it is written in a classic style. How long have you been fascinated by detective stories?
JK: Thank you. Although it's an honor to be thought of in the same room or even down the hall, there was no intention to evoke Sam Spade specifically

I did, however, intend to tip my hat to the hardboiled style, tone and rhythm of speech of the general era and ratchet that up a notch and create an exaggerated reality.

Here's a formula for you: Art = obsession. I was an odd kid. Instead of money, I'd ask for Mickey Spillane paperbacks. And now I read everything I can get my hands on, but I have a weakness for crime fiction. I like girls with guns, especially when they're naughty.

OA: What is the market like for Pulp right now, and do you plan to write a full-length novel?
JK: It's an exciting time. There's been a resurgence and a renewed interest in the craft. The best spot online to get your fix for excellent hardboiled is Todd Robinson's Thuglit. Todd's really busted his butt to make this a top-notch site and he's also a damn fine writer himself. His own work and those of other authors on the site have been nominated for some prestigious awards. And I am both fortunate and proud to have a story featured under my pen name, Jeffrey Bangkok, in the first Best of Thuglit anthology which includes one of the modern masters, Ken Bruen.

Another more traditional venue is Hard Case Crime which runs a monthly book club, reissuing long out of print books from past heavy hitters and publishing new greats.

Yes, I wrote a Max Find novel, twice as twisted as the original story and three times the fun, and it keeps me awake at night moaning for a publisher.

OA: You have created a series of black and white prints featuring a variety of figures. What is the process for these prints?
JK: I started making relief prints when I was in graduate school at the Art Institute of Chicago. It's a labor intensive process of drawing a backward image onto wood or linoleum, carving out the image, inking the block and pressing the image onto paper. When I tire of leering at models in lingerie catalogs I make prints at my kitchen table. I love how visceral the process is and that in the end I've created a physical object. And in our increasingly virtual world there's nothing more gratifying than when your hands ache from working with wood and steel.

OA: Can your prints be purchased on-line?
JK: I'll be placing them on Etsy in the near future.

OA: What's next for Jeff Kuczmarski?
JK: Miniskirts and world domination.

Bonus questions:
OA: Coffee? If yes where can you find the best cup in your area?
JK: Yes, Metropolis on 1039 West Granville is the best in Edgewater and the one of the finest in the city; the staff is great and they roast their own beans onsite.

OA: What type of music do you enjoy and who are a few of your favorites?
JK: I'm eclectic. I listen to Beethoven, The Beastie Boys, Pink Floyd, Pasty Cline, the White Stripes and Lavay Smith.

For more information on Jeffrey Kuczmarski please visit his website.

Artist of the Week

2008-12-10T07:11:00.000-06:00

Thomas Graff

For the photographer the world, and all of its broad and ever changing figures and scenes, is a canvas. What is modern and edgy or classic and refined lies squarely in the eye and mind of the photographer. Yet, their still is an overwhelming sense that there is an interaction between the subject and the artist. It is as if the photographer is giving a stage to the subject to tell their story. This is most apparent in portraits, but landscapes and still life all possess tales.

Local photographer Thomas Graff is fascinated by form and fashion, and is about to dedicated his professional life to photography. Currently in his final year at NIU, Thomas is already displaying flashes edgy originality while maintaining a strong sense for the classic nature of fashion photography. His works can currently be seen at The House Cafe in Dekalb as part of a group show for the NIU art group "Ars Nova".

Recently, Thomas was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Orange Alert (OA): Last month your show at The House Cafe in DeKalb, Form & Photography, took a new look at photography, developing, and fashion. What can you tell us about that show? What was your process like for the pieces that were on display?
Thomas Graff (TG): The work displays a new way of looking at traditional darkroom photography. It incorporates both painting and photography by using chemicals in the darkroom to splash developer on paper, fabric, and canvas to create the feeling of a painting by using photography. Although my initial intention was to mainly deal with painting and the use of photography, the process ended up creating interestingly new forms and therefor felt the show was demonstrating these "Forms and Photography."

The process started last Spring and has evolved from only using photo paper to now using canvas and fabric. Overall, it has been completely enjoyable and I am excited to continue working this way.

OA: What is it about fashion and form that you find so appealing as a photographer?
TG: I am fascinated by fashion photography because it is more than just photographing any subject. Fashion deals with people and culture and must be carefully set up in order to be successful. As the photographer, possibilities are endless. Having the control of setting up a photo shoot with live models and using different kinds of lighting is more than just pushing a button on a camera. I love the challenge it brings.

Dealing with different forms of photography co-insides with fashion because clothing comes in many unique forms. Using fashion imagery on the clothing creates a good combination for what I am doing.

OA: You have also traveled a bit. Do you feel it is important for photographers to expirence different cultures and environments? Have you found a favorite place to photograph?
TG: I love to travel. I recently got back from a four and a half month study in Salzburg, Austria and found that being abroad is inspiring and life changing. I definitely think that it is important for a photographer to step outside of his/her boundaries (whether that be traveling to an exotic location, or finding a new environment in his/her hometown) because new experiences can change a perspective for a photographer. During my semester abroad I took a trip to Morrocco, Africa and found that being in a culture that was so totally different from my American culture took my breath away. I couldn't stop photographing there. The people were beautiful, the weather was incredible, and the colors were completely unique. It is the best place I have photographed thus far.

OA: How do you decide if an image should be in black & white vs. color?
TG: I personally think that traditional black and white has such a great quality to it. Although all of the works from the Form and Photography show were black and white, I am experimenting with using color in this process. For the show though, I felt it was important to use black and white because it instantly displayed that the works were traditional darkroom prints. The process I am using is very different and many people didn't understand how it was done, so it may have been more confusing by using color.

OA: What has your expirence been like at NIU? How did you decide on their program?

TG: I have been very fortunate with my experience at NIU because I have been able to challenge myself and get involved in a number of different things. I decided on their program because my mom got her Master's Degree from NIU and I found the University to be affordable and in good location to my home town.

OA: What's next for Thomas Graff?
TG: I just finished displaying my work in a week long art show at The Holmes Student Center at NIU. It is an undergraduate photography show and includes work from about 8 other artists. I am excited to be studying abroad this summer in Australia and after I am expecting to graduate in Fall of 2009. After graduation I aim to travel more and become a fashion photographer.

Bonus Questions:
OA: What type of music do you enjoy, and who are a few of your favorites?
TG: I love many kinds of music. Besides doing photography, I sing and play saxophone in a 50's and 60's Rock and Roll band called "The Affects." I also sing in a duo acoustic band with my friend Rachel. Music is a huge part of my life. My favorite musician is John Mayer because he is an outstanding blues guitarist and his words are very meaningful.

OA: What was the last great book you have read?

TG: "You are What You Eat" by Dr. Gillian McKeith. This book will change anybody's life.

For more information on Thomas Graff please visit his website.

New Release Tuesday

2008-12-09T07:50:00.000-06:00

Music:

Alice Russell - Pot of Gold

Cat Power - Dark End of the Street EP

Fennesz - June

Headlights - Remixes Listen to: Headlights - "Cherry Tulips" (TJ Lipple Remix) (mp3)

Justice - A Cross The Universe

Pavement - Brighten the Corners: Nicene Creedence Edition
Simon Bookish - Everything/Everything (Vinyl Release)

DVD:

Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!

Man on Wire

John Cage - 49 Waltzes for the 5 Boroughs

The Holiday Guide

2008-12-08T19:19:00.002-06:00

Welcome to the first annual Orange Alert Holiday Guide. This guide is an attempt to shed a little light on a few of the artists, writers, musicians, and unique items that have been featured on What to Wear During an Orange Alert over the last year. We hope you enjoy the guide and the holiday season, but the most all we hope you continue to support the independent arts.

This guide includes our top 25 albums, top 10 books, five emerging writers, all of the randomnes you've come to love and lists contributed by the likes of Neal Pollack, Zach Dodson, Joey Potts, Yea Big, and many many more. The download also includes mp3's from the top ten albums of the year.

Please download the guide, tell everyone you know, and have a wonderful Holiday Season! (Alternate Link)

The Orange Spotlight

2008-12-08T07:11:00.006-06:00

Various Writers KSE Last Poems (Kendra Steiner Editions #115, Dec. 2008)

"i take last steps in the direction of where i began" ~ Jack Henry

Although the Midwest winters can be brutally unforgiving I have never been one to find a great deal of sorrow in the chill and frost. I tend to focus on the warmth of the holidays and the glowing eyes of the children that I am consistently surrounded by. Yet, there are always a few universal truths that can never be ignored and tend to loom a little heavier at certain times of the year. One undeniable truth is that at some point life ends. It is the uncontrollable nature of death that attracts so much attention and worry. True, some fixate, some ignore, some laugh straight in the face, but in Last Poems ten poets meditate.

From the near taunt of Ed Churchouse to the affirmation of Glen W. Cooper, Last Poems serves as a guide through death and grief told from various angles. It takes a dark and unpleasant subject and comes to terms with it. The tone is somber, but as you read it feels necessary and relevant especially if you have lost someone.

Last Poems is KSE #115 and it was printed in an edition of 94 copies, and I have copy #9. If you factor in the copies that went out to the ten different contributors, you better order yours today.

Honey Claws Honey Claws (Self-Released, Oct. 14th)

After two tracks of the debut full-length from Austin's Honey Claws I was thinking, "Oh no, another Linkin Park!". However, as I listened on I realized that this group of young and creative musicians is so much more. True they are mixing hip-hop with with rock, but this is a more urgent sound and a less polished and commercial the Linkin Park. Multi-instrumentalists Dr. Zero, Ben Senior, Jon Von Letscher, and Traey Hatch may have not have discovered something new, but their levity make this album compelling.

At its core this is a party album, combining several styles and themes. From indie rock to off-kilter electro to old-school hip-hop, the style and flow is constantly changing and evolving. My favorite track is "Bone Hollow", and the near Q-tip-esque rhymes. Even though the album is only available digitially, I was sent a beautifully designed physical copy with packaging made from certified organic parts. These four young musicians have won me over, and if you give them a chance they may do the same for you.

Listen to: Shout Out (mp3)

Orange Alert's Music Minute

2008-12-07T07:04:00.002-06:00

Releasing a digital maxi-ep, Austin's Masonic has charmed their way into my headphones and they should be in yours as well. When you add in the vicious red faced tiger on the cover of The Human Blade (released Dec. 5th) you have a gorgeous collection of indie pop driven by the voice of Eryn Gettys.

Listen to: Everytime This Happens (mp3)

One of my favorite band at the moment is Massachusetts' Passion Pit, but when I received a cover of their big single "Sleepyhead" from a band called The Mummers (no, not the Murmurs) I wasn't too sure. Then I clicked on their myspace page and was completely stunned. From the beauty of their arrangements to the fascinating range in the voice of Raissa, there was a very pleasurable quality to their music. This past week they offered up their latest single "March of The Dawn" for free here. This song appears on the album they release back in August, "To Tell the Tale (Part One)". Part is scheduled to be released in the new year.

The Faunts are a band that I have been meaning to write about for a while now, and it is mainly because I have become addicted to their remixed album that was released last months. The Faunts themselves are a group of Canadian-electro-spacerockers, but in the gentle (and sometimes rough) hands of friends like Cadence Weapon, Saxon Shore, San Serac and more they begin to take on a whole other quality. It pulsing and strange, but always moving.

Listen to: Memories of Places We've Never Been (TH White Remix) (mp3)

Geek pop from London that grim and sugary and all together catchy and depressing at the same time. A Block of Yellow began when the dual dueling Vox & Guitar boys, Alex Whalley and Anthony Nastasi, wanted to get their crafty song-craft beat-powered and basified in truly beautiful fashion. Recruitment of Dan Tomas on bass line creating bass and Rich Baker on beat creating drums followed and rounded out the quartet. Shows in their home base London, Ontario, Canada and further environs followed. This music is fun, but still there is this looming feeling that there is just something not right.

Listen to: You Shook My Head (mp3)

I am all for the Holiday spirit and I love how a local station here goes to an all Christmas format for an entire month, but if you have heard the Trans-Siberian Orchestra or Rockin' Around the Christmas tree one too many times then here are a couple solutions.

One of my favorite female vocalists of the moment, Elin Lindfors has recorded a Christmas song with both of her bands The Deer Tracks and Twiggy Frostbite and they are both fine added to you holiday rotation.

Listen to: The Deer Tracks - Christmas Fire (mp3) and Twiggy Frostbite - Bells & Chimes (mp3)

Another solution and an annual tradition in my house are the series of Santastic Remix albums. Volume 4 was officially released on December 1st, but currently all four albums can be downloaded at this site. This year's album features mashes by Dj BC, Go Home Productions, Voicedude, Voicedude, and more.

Listen to: DJ Schmolli - Pumping Up Christmas (M/A/R/R/S vs Destiny's Child) (mp3)

Finally, while you are fully in the Christmas spirit check out this digital-only Christmas benefit album for Amnesty International. Featuring exclusive tracks from My Brightest Diamond, Au Revoir Simone, No Kids, Figurine, Papercuts, Au and more this album would serve any indie kid or indie parent proud this holiday season. I'll Stay 'Til After Christmas is a homespun affair if there ever was one - the idea for the album came from a recent tradition that Gill and his wife Reda Rountree have had for the past several years where they would make a compilation CD of Christmas music to give out as a gift to friends and family - and, since the two are friends with plenty of musicians, they decided to compile an original Christmas album to share with the masses. The album cover was also designed by Rountree and the photo on the cover was taken by Gill's younger brother, Andrew.

Listen to: Le Loup -"Shenandoah" (mp3)

The Watch List

2008-12-06T06:29:00.000-06:00

Listening:
1. Loyal Divide: This Chicago band just released one of the most surprising EP of year. You have to check it out! You can stream all four songs here.
2. Milk at Midnight: The third release from this Chicago band is filled with driving rhythms and hard edges. They are celebrating the release of Less Love More Acid at The Empty Bottle of Dec. 12th.
3. Inchworm: Local favorites, Inchworm just released their third album called Sheep in Wolf's Clothing. It filled with folk rock melodies beg for a simpler life.

Reading:
1. Undo by Martin Reed: A fast-paced story about driving and typing and so much more.
2. Western Bridges by Tobias Carroll: A hitchhikers journey.
3. Tulum by Tim Hall: This is actually an except for Tim's new book Full of It.
4. Cookie Hour by Jimmy Chen: Mmmm, an hour of Cookies!
5. When This Borrowed Car Burns by Sean Patrick Hill: A small scene of regret.
6. Now This by Joe Ashby Porter: I wanted something different and found a story of a military pilot.
7. Loneliness: Fourteen Variations by Barbara Hurd: Not the happiest story but well written.

Wishing:
1. Plustapes: Chicago is helping to bring back the cassette.
2. Orangyporangy: Handcrafted fashion from Madison.
3. Jennifer Davis has a new line of greeting cards with Vandalia Street Press. Check it out!

Getting:
1. Blanket 2nd Anniversary Issue: I can't believe Blanket has been around for two years already! 2. A free education in the music of The Last Poets from the fine folks at Milk Crate Breaks.

Watching:
1. Billy Collins "The Best Cigarette"
2. Boy Least Likely To "The First Snowflake"
3. Butch Walker "The Weight of Her"
4. Daniel Maurer reading from "Brocabulary: A new Man-i-festo of Dude Talk": This book was an embarrassment, and to see him reading you can tell he feels it.

Band of the Week

2008-12-05T05:57:00.000-06:00

Dent May

When you hear the velvet sounds of Mississippi's Dent May you may picture the classic Vegas lounge singer, full tux, cocktail, maybe bubbles floating through the air. That picture may not be completely wrong, but Dent is actually a southern boy from Mississippi who takes great pride in his roots. In fact his debut album, The Good Feeling Music of Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele (Feb. 2009, Paw Tracks) plays to his roots in every tone and in every lyric. He sings of the small town boy and the lonely housewife, the quite parties, and the pretty girls. The other local aspect of this album is the artist that he asked to do the cover and design work, Will Bryant. If that name sounds familiar it is because Will was featured on Orange Alert back in June of 2007. He is also from Mississippi and now he has done a cover for a Paw Tracks album. Now he, just like Dent, may find the national attention they have deserved for years.

Recently, Dent May was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Orange Alert (OA): The forthcoming album, The Good Feeling Music of..., sounds and looks great. It seems like you have rerecorded some of the songs from your self-released ep, and even added a few new elements to songs like "Meet Me in The Garden" and "College Town Boy". Why did you decide to record new versions of these songs for the album?
Dent May (DM): I considered scrapping them all but ultimately those songs were a part of the original vision I had for the album before I released the E.P. I had the album title and a track list that's pretty similar to the final track list before I wrote most of the songs. Then I recorded demos for all the songs. Sometimes I wish I rerecorded "Pierce Avenue," but I moved away from Pierce and it didn't feel right at the time. I also didn't want to go down in history as the dude who played a Prince cover on ukulele.

OA: It seems like giving away your ep digitally for free last year has really paid off. Have you ever second guessed that decision, and do you think that move is what caught the eye of Paw Tracks?
DM: I've never second guessed that decision and hope to release much more free music in the future. I'm really excited about the possibilities that the Internet brings to the table for both artists and consumers. It's not what caught the eye of Paw Tracks though. I met the Animal Collective dudes down here in Mississippi earlier this year.

OA: Speaking of Paw Tracks, what has your experience been like with them so far?
DM: It's been dreamy!

OA: I love the artwork and design of the new album, Will Bryant is someone I met almost a year and a half ago and remains an undiscovered Mississippi talent. Why did you pick Will over a more established artist?
DM: Will is a friend of mine, and I wanted a Mississippi artist although the bastard's moving to Portland. I wanted everything about the album to be as local as possible, yet still with an ear and eye toward the global. He's been making my flyers and what not for a while, so it was natural. He may be undiscovered at the moment, but he'll do big things I assure you.

OA: You are gaining the reputation as a showmen in the classic sense of the word, what can folks expect from a Dent May show as you tour the country this Spring in support of the album?
DM: Costume changes, bubble machines, champagne, handclaps, dancing, singing, etc.

OA: What's next for Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele?
DM: Well, I hope to tour the majority of 2009 with my ukulele. But after that I'm going to record some non-ukulele jams. I've been working on some dance music and plan on using the moniker Dent Sweat. Hopefully I'll have some songs finished before the ukulele album comes out.

"Oh Paris"

Bonus Questions:
OA: As a small town boy Mississippi, where can you find the best cup of coffee in your area?
DM: I was working at a book store in Oxford called Square Books. It's an excellent store and has a cafe upstairs. I don't drink coffee, but I hear it's good. On a nice day you can hang out on the balcony overlooking our fair town square, and its delightful. Look me up if you do.

OA: What was the last great book you read?
DM: The Girl on the Fridge by Etgar Keret

For more information on Dent May please visit his website.