I recently travelled back to Santiago, Chile (where I grew up) for one of my best friends wedding, and while there I was amazed by how many good local bands I was exposed to and how good of a music scene that city has.
Amongst them was Zebra, a dream-wave trio formed by DJ/Producer Sebastian Roman (Roman/MKRNI), Miguel Irarrazaval (Treboles) and Enrique Escala (Treboles), who with their first EP “AD Portas I” caught the attention of Picnic Kubun’s label Endemika Records. I was instantly blown away by the level of sophistication in their arrangements and catchy hooks, not to mention how virtuosos they are in regards to live instrumentation, so when they asked me to design an album cover for their upcoming release, I was honored (I’m also working on an official music video…more on that later).
Today, Zebra unveiled the title track of that release, which carries the name of “Summer Love” and is set to drop early March, 2013.
I recently acquired some concrete art form Concrete Cat. They keep impressing me with the things they are doing in concrete. From a clock collaboration with Furni to Matt Heide’s Concrete Tactile Painting to larger furniture and counter tops. I love seeing an artist evolve with their craft as they push the limits of its intended purpose.
New Jersey photographer Stacy Swiderski’s series Suburban Nights depicts aluminum-sided houses, above-ground pools, yards, and family cars shrouded in the purple light of dusk and the clear black of midnight. Illumination comes from sodium-yellow streetlamps, or fresh snowfall’s iridescent blue. The most noticeable thing about these photographs—apart from their silky, hyper-real color scheme—is their lack of people. Swiderski’s lonely landscapes carry a familiar melancholy for anyone who grew up in these sorts of places (myself included), and I can’t get enough of the eerie calm and—maybe I’m projecting here—subtle menace of her images.
Starting in 1966, Can-Am was an idealistic series conceived by the SCCA and its Canadian counterpart, CASC. Running under FIA Group 7 rules, it was as open as a series could get, essentially a formula libre format with the chassis weight and horsepower being, for all intents and purposes, unlimited. If the the tires weren’t exposed and it had 2 seats, you could race it. It was popular among drivers and enthusiasts, the likes of Keke Rosberg, Gilles Villeneuve, and even Paul Newman being regulars at the meets.
While this format led to some interesting technological developments and some truly oddball designs, it also opened the door to the inevitable: 1,000+HP engines bolted to cars that proved to be as unsafe as they were powerful. Lola & McLaren dominated the front 9 of the first era, the latter half saw the introduction and subsequent perfection of the Porsche 917, which nearly spelled the end of the series as they were unbeatable by non-works sponsored teams.
Some notable offspring of the early Can-Am years included heavy experimentation with aerodynamics and downforce, particularly Jim Hall’s Chaparral cars. The 2J, or “sucker car” [seen above in b&w bearing the number 66] used a series of skirts and a small 2 stroke engine which powered 2 fans aft of the vehicle. This combination of parts cobbled together [on what I feel is one of the ugliest race cars ever produced] created a unique type of ground effect, one which didn’t require moving air over the car, meaning that downforce in excess of 1.5g could be accomplished at any speed. When it was actually working, it qualified 2 seconds faster than the closest car, and was quickly banned.
The late 1970’s saw the waning series combined with then thriving Formula 5000 category, allowing teams to convert single-seat, open wheeled tubs into closed-wheel sports cars. While less popular in the long run, it encouraged many more teams to compete and led to a truly unique chapter of motorsport, as well as some really good looking cars. This modest resurgence continued until the dominance IMSA/Camel & CART took over as the format of choice in the 80’s.
You’re looking at the first experimental vertical take off & landing (VTOL) jet, and one of the first jet-powered drones known as “Project Firebee”. From the San Diego Air & Space Museum account on Flickr, which makes for a great Apple TV screensaver, if i do say so myself.
Toro Y Moi’s album drops next year and he’s been dropping singles and remixes as small tasters. Also, another artist that will have a big year is Ducktails, above is a preview of the live show for 2013. Monoton has a 12″ reissue and debuted his first ever NYC show last week and Peaking Lights go dub and weird and its pretty perfect.
One last mix for the year, this one is for Montreal boutique SSENSE, I tried to go a bit moody yet still build to some sort of drive. The mix contains a track from one of my favorites from Circlesquare and this years Shed LP, hope you enjoy.
POLISH-BORN BROOKLYN-BASED PRODUCER JAKUB ALEXANDER, BETTER KNOWN BY HIS STAGE NAME, HEATHERED PEARLS’ AMBIENT MIX OF PROGRESSIVE, STEADY RHYTHMS AND HYPNOTIC BASSLINES OPENS WITH A SYNTH-DRIVEN OFFERING FROM THE HYPERDUB-SIGNED NEW WAVE PROJECT, DARKSTAR, BEFORE ARTICULATING SMOOTHER SOUNDSCAPES, KICKLESS BEATS AND ETHEREAL VOCALS FROM THE LIKES OF CIRCLESQUARE, TROPIC OF CANCER AND PLANETARY ASSAULT SYSTEMS. SWEDISH PRODUCER MOKIRA’S EXPERIMENTAL SINGLE, TIME TRACK REMIXED BY SILENT SERVANT FILTERS IN A CONTEMPORARY TAKE ON AMBIENT ELECTRONIC FILLED WITH HAZY STATIC FOLLOWED BY TRACKS FROM FELLOW GHOSTLY INTERNATIONAL-SIGNED DUO LUSINE + WINGO.
