Austin-based four-piece The Octopus Project has spent the fall co-headlining a US tour with Polyvinyl’s newest signing, STRFKR.
The band recently performed in Mexico City as part of the Sonorama Festival, and is now set to play two homecoming shows in Texas with the Hexadecagon set-up first debuted at SXSW.
Watch a trailer for the eight-speaker, eight-video-projection, surround-sound monster below.
Each week, Behind the Counter speaks to an independent record store to ask about its recent favorites, best sellers, and noteworthy trends.
ALARM recently spoke with Dennis Callaci, general manager of the Inland Empire-based Rhino Records and The Mad Platter, about the sisterly record stores and the potential correlation between UFOs, Jim Morrison, and Vietnam (hint: he’s not interested). To kick off the Q&A, here’s a photo of Mad Platter employee Jonny holding his favorite record.
Travis Morrison of The Dismemberment Plan is a huge Gladys Knight fan. Though his band’s dance-punk sound doesn’t overtly reflect Knight’s timeless recordings with The Pips, some influences are a bit more subtle. Below, Morrison shares five of his favorite Gladys Knight songs. And in case you were wondering, yes, The Dismemberment Plan is back together. The band is set to tour the US in support of Barsuk’s upcoming vinyl re-release (1/11/11) of the 1999 album Emergency & I.
1.“Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye)”
Such a great description of shared heartbreak, shared failure at love. I always loved songs that never placed blame when things went wrong. Kind of a companion song to “It’s Too Late” by Carole King. But in this song, the narrator is still in the mix, still not quite giving up. It usually makes me tear up — takes me back to a few situations in my life, I admit.
Contributing photographer Wallo Villacorta attended the recent Caribou show in Zurich, Switzerland and captured these amazing shots of the band. Dan Snaith and company are currently selling out the majority of their dates on a lengthy world tour set to culminate in Perth, Australia in February of 2011. Catch the live, electronic-based mayhem while you can, and stay tuned for more overseas photography from Villacorta.
Sigur Rós frontman Jónsi has been touring tirelessly for the past year, playing songs from his first solo album, Go (XL). The live show has been acclaimed by critics far and wide, and with good reason: with design help from Fifty Nine Productions, it is an absolute spectacle. For those hoping to go behind the scenes and perhaps relive the magic, the forthcoming ALARM book Chromatic: The Crossroads of Color and Music details the tour from its inception to its first performance.
ALARM contributing photographer Samantha Hunter attended Jónsi’s recent show at the Vic in Chicago and captured the action — from costume changes to dramatic visual projections — in vivid color.
South Loop haunt Villains Bar and Grill played host to ALARM’s Halloween party this year. Costumed ALARM staff, contributors, readers, and friends descended upon the bar for drinks, an ALARM-curated playlist, and spooky holiday decorations, including five pumpkins painstakingly carved by our “foxy” marketing manager Elise. Mobile photo booth Glitter Guts set up shop to capture more formal — though still spooky — portraits (see here), while ALARM contributing photographer David Sampson snapped spontaneous photos.
DJ Rob Swift is one of the premier turntablists scratching and mixing today. His most recent album, The Architect, explores a distinctly classical sound — a genre totally foreign to Swift until recently. After his girlfriend turned him onto Frédéric Chopin, Swift immersed himself in the culture of classical music, and he soon found himself bridging the gap between the centuries-old compositions and his modern-day craft. Swift penned this piece for ALARM explaining the intersections of classical and hip hop in his own music.
My Introduction to Classical Music
by Rob Swift
The genre of classical music has helped me reinvent my approach to making turntable music! I know it sounds sort of odd coming from a hip-hop DJ, but it’s true. When you think about it, we all have some sort of connection to classical music, whether it was learning about it in music class as a child or listening to it in movies and commercials. At one point or another, you’ve been touched by classical compositions from the likes of Frédéic Chopin, Ludwig Van Beethoven, or Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, my personal favorite composers!
Experimental duo The Books recently brought its meticulous audiovisual production to the Vic in Chicago. Touring in support of its July album, The Way Out (Temporary Residence), Nick Zammuto and Paul de Jong played to a rapt, seated audience, with their trademark found-video mash-ups and cut-and-paste audio collages seamlessly synced. ALARM contributing photographer Samantha Hunter was on hand to capture the show.
Austin-based four-piece The Octopus Project has spent the fall co-headlining a US tour with Polyvinyl’s newest signing, STRFKR.
