Music isn't all about forthcoming LPs, multi-city tours, and special haircuts. Once a week XLR8R likes to turn its attention to the more obscure and sometimes bizarre news from last seven days. Today we bring you some music industry politics, groundbreaking (literally) discoveries about ravers, and one or two items that are just plain weird.
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Long Gone John (born John Mermis) has accomplished a lot for someone who struggled to make ends meet from an early age. He spontaneously began Sympathy for the Record Industry in 1988, a label that sought to maintain a diverse artist roster including the psychedelic drone of Skullflower, country-flavored goth of Gun Club, offbeat punk from Turbonegro, and even the first three White Stripes albums.
Andy Dixon (a.k.a. Secret Mommy) has made what he calls, "the most anti-electronic electronic album" for his latest full-length Plays. It follows then, that his visual take on the tracks is steadfastly conceptual. For one distorted image after the other and more bizarre color combinations than a light show at an illegal rave, check the video for "Kool Aid River," now playing at XLR8R's Video Section.
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Kent Lambert (a.k.a. Roommate) starts 2007 in much the same way he left 2006, when he released Songs The Animals Taught Us. That album was packed with pointed lyrics on profiteers, the economy, the plight of the middle class, and other such ailments of the modern age, and his forthcoming digital-only EP, New Steam, simply picks up where Songs ended.
You know John Tejada as a longtime player in L.A.’s techno scene, and also as the boss of Palette Recordings, a label popular with the likes of Steve Bug, Josh Wink, and Sasha. Now that the recent ten-year anniversary celebrations of the label are over, Tejada takes some time out to make a mix showing off some of his best production work over the years. Many of the tracks here were made with labelmate and San Francisco local Justin Maxwell, as well as Arian Leviste.
Kidrobot and San Francisco-based footwear company JB Classics unite for a new, limited edition shoe that marks the first collaboration between the two companies.
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