Factory Fresh

Gallery Spotlight: Factory Fresh

Ad Deville and Ali Ha, the co-owners of Factory Fresh Gallery, are considered venerable street artists operating as Skewville and Pufferella, respectively. Yet they didn’t quite realize how to define their work until attending a Wooster Collective art walk along New York’s Lower East Side in 2002. During the event, some attendees inquired whether they were street artists, to which Deville responded, “Well, I put sneakers on wires, and it’s in the street.”

As Skewville and Pufferella, Deville quietly strung sneaker-shaped wooden blocks along the telephone wires of New York and other international cities while Ha delved into her fascination of creating plush fabric images. But the cohesive street-art community that was quickly taking shape along the Lower East Side intrigued them. They introduced their new friends to Orchard Street Gallery, which the couple opened in late 2002. Deville and Ha began collaborating with other contemporary art galleries and featuring shows by Gore B, Meeka, and Jet + Rubble.

Jónsi

Concert Photos: Jónsi @ the Vic

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.

Jónsi

Jónsi

Sargeist

The Metal Examiner: Sargeist’s Let the Devil In

Every Friday, The Metal Examiner delves metal’s endless depths to present the genre’s most important and exciting albums.

Sargeist: Let the Devil In

Sargeist: Let the Devil In (Moribund, 11/9/2010)

[audio:https://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/06-Discovering-the-Enshrouded-Eye.mp3|titles=Sargeist – Discovering the Enshrouded Eye]

Finland’s Sargeist became orthodox black-metal torch-bearers with the release of the 2003 album Satanic Black Devotion.  After missing the mark with its last full-length, the band has returned to form with Let the Devil In, another compelling creation of harmonically dense black metal.

The Sound of Siam

World in Stereo: The Sound of Siam: Leftfield Luk Thung, Jazz & Molam in Thailand 1964-1975

Each week, World in Stereo examines classic and modern world music while striving for a greater appreciation of other cultures.

The Sound of SiamVarious artists: The Sound of Siam: Leftfield Luk Thung, Jazz & Molam in Thailand 1964-1975 (Soundway, 11/29/2010)

Chaweewan Dumnern: “Sao Lam Plearn”

[audio:https://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Sao-Lam-Plearn.mp3|titles=Chaweewan Dumnern: “Sao Lam Plearn”]

In characteristic Soundway Records fashion, the crate-digging UK label’s newest compilation documents a flourishing music scene that few people even knew existed.  Over the years, Soundway has released a number of afro-centric compilations filled with rare gems and obscure grooves, but its newest is an unexplored taste of Asia with The Sound of Siam: Leftfield Luk Thung, Jazz & Molam in Thailand 1964-1975.

The 19-track set is a fascinating exploration that spans North and South Thailand (known as Siam until 1939).  It’s a retrospective that reveals one of the most experimental time periods in Thailand’s music history.  Scouring the old and forgotten vinyls of Bangkok and unearthing the genres of luk thung, molam, funk, and spaced-out jazz, The Sound of Siam will surprise listeners with moving vocal performances, groovy rhythm sections, and surf-rock guitar riffs while being entirely Thai and Western chic at the same time.

Social Distortion

Social Distortion: Another State of Mind

Social Distortion‘s upcoming album, Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes, finds Mike Ness and company reinventing themselves once again, trading in their signature hard-edged punk for a more lighthearted rock-‘n’-roll sound.