The River Guardian

patterns

Here is Grimes on KEXP performing selections from her sensational 2012 release Visions , check her on tour. Anyone swinging through the Midwest the weekend of July 13th will be able to see her at Chicago’s Pitchfork Festival and Louisville’s Forecastle Festival.

new track from Danny Brown fresh off his big week at SXSW. gettin it done via SCION A/V. 

check out this interview (via tremble tremble) with Claire Boucher aka Grimes from last year’s SXSW. This type of genuine enthusiasm is infectious as is her latest album Visions, the most innovative and entertaining record of the short year. buy the record from 4AD here and check out her tour dates here. 

in more good morning news, it seems that Beach House’s fourth album Bloom has leaked in a big way. download it now but buy the vinyl May 15th from Sub Pop here and check them out on their upcoming tour. (sorry wisconsin, looks like we get skipped for the time being, much to the disappointment of anyone who attended their terrific set at the Pabst in april of 2010)

good morning madison

oh the double-edged sword of mainstream success. admittedly, i have not developed much taste for skrillex, kinda consider him to be a one trick pony (see: the aforementioned “drop” ), and more of a cultural meme than artist (see: dozens of endorsements/ads/commercials). BUT, he does have legitimate fans who are legitimate fans of music. you may, in fact, be one and would most likely disagree with my previous sentiments.

the reality, i suppose, is somewhere in the middle. he clearly takes himself seriously as an artist and desires to be considered so. always looking to profit off youth culture and, being seen as a purveyor of a youthful, trendy, exorbitant lifestyle, he was targeted by retail world, bought, signed, and categorized (see misnomer: dubstep) by the mainstream canon-eering machine. so he cashed in on his talents. no crime there, many people have done it, many people will do it, i’d almost certainly do it.

unfortunately, the artist and the brand cannot always coexist in peace, as is the case here. music is a deeply personal, intimate thing to share. when he shares his “favorite song of all time” he is sharing something that has had an indelible mark on himself and one would assume his music, something that is certainly highly sentimental. i gotta wonder if its worth making music for people who don’t (can’t) appreciate (react to) the same music as oneself.

so this leads to my question: is the best definition for the age old (and notoriously subjective) notion of ‘selling-out’ when the cultural reach of the brand exceeds the reach of the artist? if so, could there possibly be a more obvious example than this? oooorrrrr maybe his message is simply about dancing and having a good time and he doesnt care if his fans are ignorant. just some thoughts i had when i saw this, mostly this is just funny, mostly.

side note: if this pre supposition is true, it makes the cultural impact of the beatles all that more remarkable, 50 years ago (while being the most famous people in the world and the first b’r’and) these guys forever tied their artistic intentions to their brand (see: all you need is love), probably the most culturally significant mantra for global peace to this day

White Denim- Syncn

a bittersweet acid rock anthem from Austin’s foremost purveyors of guitar-based psychedelia

Bowie circa ‘72- Oh! You Pretty Things

npr:

I came across this incredible virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel today. It’s from 2010 and presents an amazing (and tourist free) look inside the building.

To create the 365-degree view, a team from Villanova University was given unprecedented access to the chapel over five nights to compile the necessary images.  According to the university’s press release, “several thousand photographs were taken with an advances motorize camera right and then digitally stitched together”. The result is a stunning high-resolution tour of one of the world’s most famous buildings.

The building was consecrated on August 15, 1483 and named after Pope Sixtus IV della Rovere. It wasn’t until 1508, however, that Michelangoelo was tasked with painting the now famous ceiling. According to the Vatican’s website, he finished it in 1512.

Take some time and discover this amazing piece of history.

—Savy