Year: 2013
Red Fang, Gaytheist, Helms Alee @ Urban Lounge 10.15
Red Fang walked onstage, dressed in their finest tuxedo T-shirts, the occasion being the release date of their new album, Whales & Leeches. These guys look like the epitome of metal heads: Everyone has tattoos, long hair and glorious beards. … read more
Don’t Kill Mother Fucking Depeche Mode: An Interview With Sascha...
Sascha Konietzko is a music machine. For the last three decades, Konietzko’s band, KMFDM, has produced an album every other year, often with a tour to accompany its release. KMFDM have pushed the boundaries of industrial music, sex and politics. From the sense of nihilism brought on by the formulaic nature of modern music, to the feelings of outrage over political oppression, KMFDM have been there to address the issue. SLUG Magazine got the opportunity to talk with Sascha Konietzko about his recently released album Kunst, his wife and bandmate Lucia Cifarelli, the Syria conflict and Konietzko’s perspective on the progression of industrial music over the years. … read more
King Khan and the Shrines @ Urban Lounge 10.18 with...
In no time at all, Urban Lounge has transformed into the basement of the Delta’s toga party in the basement of Animal House. Beer is flying, I’m pretty sure there’s some gyrating going on, and there is someone hanging like a monkey from the rafters. This is like the best wedding reception anyone’s ever been to, after the bride and groom have gone and only the wedding band and drunk uncles remain. … read more
Ring Rats Anonymous: UCW Zero Live TV Taping @ UCW...
Festivities began with a recently “heeled” Derrick Janetty full-on inviting the audience to go to hell and a hearty proclamation that both he and Martin Casaus would be holding on to the Tag Team championship, by hook or by crook, to an arena-wide flurry of boos. This was until the American Pitbulls, comprised of Jason Jaxon and “The Captain” Craig Stevens arrived to issue their challenge for the belt, all to take place during the main event match. With the crowd tense n’ ready for the melees to take place, the event was underway. … read more
Melt-Banana @ Urban Lounge 10.20 with Baby Gurl, Kinski
Melt-Banana uses technology, from guitar effects to synthesized drum tracks, in such a way that you aren’t aware of it as technology. Rock n’ roll was originally a live medium, and Onuki’s stage presence is riveting as she wields the game controller, using it to control the frenetic rhythms of the music, as stage prop, as mere toy, or all three? This is the music of the future, I thought as I watched her—technology becoming part of the body, almost. … read more
Black Light Art Show @ Copper Palate Press 10.18
The theme that Brian Taylor created for the participating artists was for each artist to choose a band and screen print a black light poster about said band—some of the artists stuck to the theme and others went their own direction. The idea also molded into a collection of several artists’ versions of the quintessential psychedelic black light poster. The show was an intimate gathering of the who’s who of the printing community, and those of us that did attend sure as shit wished they had a draft card to burn. … read more
Bonkers for Banzai: Anime Banzai 2013
The last panel I went to was “Mega Man: Powered Up!” and was by far the most heated panel of the three. Things got a little out of control when a man dressed in a full-on My Little Pony jumpsuit stated that Mega Man would always be superior to Zero, because supposedly they keep bringing Zero back, while Mega Man is a constant, which caused the other members of the audience to simultaneously start yelling that they agreed or disagreed with this guy’s theory, and why he was right or wrong. … read more
People Productions: David Mamet’s Race
I walked out of last Sunday’s performance of David Mamet’s “Race” at the Leonardo with two conclusions. People Productions, which I’d never heard of before, is one of those groups that is capable of leaving me with a knot it my stomach and something real to think about. And, Mamet’s script, while problematic and manipulative, is also worth discussing, mounting and writing about. … read more
salt 8: Shigeyuki Kihara
Shigeyuki Kihara’s exhibition at the UMFA explores various facets of her identity: the nexus of her Samoan ethnicity, status as transgendered, and the more universal self-reflexivity of being an artist. Her tight, majestic solo performance this Wednesday, as a part of the “salt” series, was the centerpiece of show. … read more
KMFDM, Chant @ Park City Live 10.22
I have been a fan of industrial music pioneers KMFDM for quite some time, and I had never seen them live before. I could hardly contain my excitement. I was not going to miss this show for anything. I picked up my friend and headed up the canyon to Park City Live. CHANT was their special guest. I had not heard their music before, but my music friends informed me they put on a great show. I was stoked to see a line stretching nearly half a block, and I thought to myself, “Finally, a great turnout.” … read more