ALARM

Majestic unicorns, space whales, and power ballads: Robot Unicorn Attack 2 for iOS

In need of majestic unicorn accessories, space whales, and power ballads? Adult Swim Games has released Robot Unicorn Attack 2, and it’s an awesomely prog-tacular upgrade on its predecessor.

Fred Armisen’s five favorite Portland places

With a few seasons of Portlandia in the books, sketch master and former Trenchmouth drummer Fred Armisen has helped spawn a renewed interest in the The City of Roses (aided, of course, by the talents of ex-Sleater-Kinney guitarist Carrie Brownstein).

Q&A: Aesthetic Apparatus distills beauty from poor choices

In a decade that will be characterized by staggering unemployment and one of the greatest recessions in recent history, it is refreshing to hear Aesthetic Apparatus’s story. Forging a partnership based on a shared love of music, art, and design, Dan Ibarra and Michael Byzewski left their jobs at a Madison, Wisconsin, graphic-design firm in 2002 to do things their way.

Their creation — Aesthetic Apparatus — is a Minneapolis-based commercial art and printmaking studio that has designed everything from gallery art to logos for local pizza shops to concert posters for bands such as Cake and The Black Keys. Leaving a successful graphic-design studio to start something for themselves didn’t promise Ibarra and Byzewski immediate success, but it did set the stage for Aesthetic Apparatus to become modern-day purveyors of pop-culture cool.

Ibarra recently took some time to talk about Aesthetic Apparatus’s unique vision.

Seven songs for a road trip to anywhere

Going somewhere? Anywhere? Put on these tunes during your aimless getaway.

Meet Jess Fink, time-traveling comic purveyor of erotica and bad advice

Jess Fink is awesome. What other word can be used to describe a woman who wrote a graphic novel about a clockwork Victorian sex robot and a time-traveling memoir where she goes back in time and gives herself bad advice?

An ode to a stabbing (and Earth’s eventual demise) in KNTRLR’s “Stabs”

It’s an age-old story: 1980s child actor turned drummer meets seminary-school dropout in a Russian bath house; they witness a man getting stabbed outside their practice space; they write a few songs.

Screaming feelings: Have Mercy’s “Ancient West”

Honest, soul-baring rock is in short supply these days, but Have Mercy has the sound pinned down with new track “Ancient West.”

Watch Buzz Osborne, Nick Zinner, and other punk vets ruminate in 10-min Retox doc

In a video documentation of its new album, hardcore-punk outfit Retox (along with friends Buzz Osborne, Nick Zinner, and Trevor Dunn) ruminates about endless touring, pouring out emotions on stage, and the magic of music.

A kaleidoscopic fever dream in Cloudeater’s “Smog” video

Atmospheric and bass-heavy as always, Atlanta’s Cloudeater has a new standalone single that shows off the band’s slower side. Its video, meanwhile, is a kaleidoscopic fever dream set to blurred visions of woodlands, geometric patterns, and intense close-ups.

After-Party: Portland, OR

Though sometimes overshadowed by Pacific Northwest neighbors Seattle and Vancouver, Oregon’s cultural capital holds many distinctions of its own — including nicknames of “Brewtopia” and “Pornland” for its prevalence of coffee, beer, and strip clubs.

Four band-endorsed boozes

For some, plastering a band name on a bottle of booze is nothing more than a marketing gimmick. Others, like Maynard James Keenan, pour everything into their creations. However you define the following, here are a few band-name beverages to request at your next show.

Q&A: Surf rock, Italian Westerns, and B-movie themes collide as RobotMonkeyArm

RobotMonkeyArm is a multimedia project of the mind, set to a cinematic mix of surf rock, Italian Western, and B-movie themes. We talked to creator Ryan Baker about his influences, the future of the project, and which adversary (gorilla or robot) stole whose arm first.