First of all, I realize every 3rd post includes Grimes or SBTRKT or both. But Grimes and Pictureplane together just seems like such a natural fit and it makes one wonder why this did not transpire at an earlier time. Or did it?
Posts tagged with pictureplane
10/05/2011
Zach Condon & Pictureplane – Found Too Low
I was pretty interested when Pictureplane tweeted recently about a 2004 collaboration he did with Zach Condon (aka Beirut). I at first thought it was some sort of joke since I never envisioned those two together, but then I gave it a listen and it was actually kind of a rad song, and a real one at that. Really dig both of these artists for completely different reasons, so it’s great to see them mesh in a nice way like this.
And Detroiters, the good news is that we all get the chance to see Beirut live and in concert one week from today, October 11, at the Royal Oak Music Theater. I will be there will be my bells(and camera bag) on, and hopefully you will be too, especially if you like yourself some horns sections like I do.
06/19/2011
Pictureplane – Post Physical
Travis Egedy aka Pictureplane is a rare specimen indeed (in the best way possible). His 2009 album Dark Rift, first introduced to me via the awesome Stevie Nicks-sampled tune “Goth Star”, was an awesome journey through space and time (and mostly killer beats) that was more than capable of eliciting a heavy dance sesh from just about anyone. If I would have given it the love I should have when I first picked it up, it undoubtedly would have made it onto my top albums list that year, but even though it didn’t make it on our negligible year end rankings, it will always hold a place in the rankings in my head. And following Pictureplane on twitter is kind of like a glimpse into all of the random shit that you wish you were doing instead of sitting at your desk wasting away. For serious, I sometimes question some of the things he says he’s doing at the moment, but then realize they are often too ridiculous to make up and have to believe that they are actually happening. The good news for everyone is that Pictureplane is releasing a brand new album on July 19 entitled THEE PHYSICAL and I have no doubt that it will be full of the same killer beats that permeated the first album. Here’s a brand new track from the album entitled “Post Physical”, a sort of homage to the post-everything era that we seem to live in today. Give it a listen and keep an eye out for the new album because it is most definitely sure to rule the school.
Ah, Fred Falke. Can this man do no wrong? I’ve posted a few of his remixes, and they’re all pretty top notch. First there was that Florrie “Panic Attack” remix that I love so much. And then I heard that super old but sicker than sick “Golden Cage” remix he did for The Whitest Boy Alive only recently, an 8.5 minute burner that feels nothing like it. And while his remix of “Shampain” by Marina and the Diamonds definitely did not instantly strike me like the two aforementioned remixes did, it’s still pretty darn catchy and energy-inducing. And if that’s not enough for you, hit up another remix of the same song from our boy Pictureplane, whose 2009 album Dark Rift, had my top 20 albums of 2009 been written today, would have definitely cracked into that list. It’s actually a shame that it took me so long to realize how killer that album is.
Marina and the Diamonds – Shampain (Fred Falke Radio edit)
Marina and the Diamonds – Shampain (Pictureplane’s Deep Dolphin Remix)
Happy birthday to us! It’s officially our one year birthday and we couldn’t be happier with how things have transpired over the last year, especially the past few months. While straining my brain trying to come up with the perfect way to celebrate, it came to me almost by accident. Since we’ve never done any sort of mixtape, we asked a bunch of our favorite blogs to each submit a track that reminds them of summer. Then, I mixed them all together (sort of, having never done any sort of audio editing in mah life) and the end result is the “Blogwave Summer” mixtape! It was an interesting project because everyone has a different definition of the perfect summer tune, but there’s a great mix of upbeat and chill that all flows together in the end. The mere fact that I was able to do this is a testament to how far we’ve come this past year , so I’m really happy with how it all came together. I mean it’s no Mondo Boys Weird Summer mixtape, but it holds its own. Oh, and thanks to j-town, whose FANTASTIC image I borrowed for the mixtape artwork.
Here’s the full track list, as well as which blog contributed which track in [brackets]. My eternal thanks to all of the blogs who participated, you are all super rad. And make sure to check them out too if you are not already a reader. Thanks to the ON (Original Ninja) The Music Ninja, you can click on any blog names in the image below to get to their respective sites, so do it! Oh yeah, and since this is our anniversary, I took the liberty to throw not one but two fantastic tracks into the mix.
I’ve provided the file in a couple of different ways. You can download it below as one continuous mp3 file, or you can download it as separate tracks (which will sound exactly the same as the single file when played in succession). You can also stream the whole thing right here in the audio player below if you want a sneak preview, but your best bet is probably to download the zip file. Plus the zip file includes a front and back cover which lists all the songs and blogs that contribute them, so that is nice to have. The whole thing runs at about 1:18, so press play and let the summer tunes take you away.
Thanks again to everyone for reading this past year, and let’s see if we can’t make the next year even better.
And here’s a bonus tune that I’ve posted before that JUST missed the cut for this mixtape, but that I listen to almost daily because it’s just SO farking happy. I’m sure it will only get even more play as the days get warmer. I also chose this song because, to quote Mr. Shooter McGavin, “Even though only one of you will become my colleague, all of you…are now my friends.”
After a completely exhausting night and day seeing Japandroids and Bear in Heaven the night before and staying up until all hours of the night (well, compared to when I normally go to sleep on a school night), it was time to do it all over again. This time, it was to see the triple bill of Pictureplane, Small Black and Washed Out for a night of music and action. I expected just as much energy as the night before, but a different kind of energy. And I got what I was looking for.
The night started out on a bad note when I wasn’t on the list as scheduled and was trying to show the email to the bouncer. He was all, “Who’s Ernest Greene?” and I was all “Washed Out, the guy who’s playing tonight.” So after telling him I’d just pay, he ended up letting me in anyway. Then he asked me if I was drinking, then immediately stopped himself. “What am I thinking, of course you’re drinking. You’re a photographer, you know, take three pictures then enjoy a great show.” All said with the snarkiest of snark (a recurring theme of this post). To which I replied, “Hey now, take it easy there.” Then I met up with Mike, Jessie and Natalia and we waited.
When the clock struck 10PM and the show hadn’t started yet, I knew Wednesday was going to be a long day, but at last, it was time for Pictureplane to begin. He had his setup on the floor in front of the stage and the crowd gathered around him, eventually completely circling him as the energy picked up. I knew picture taking was going to be pretty much impossible with his minimal lighting, especially when he requested the stage lights to be turned down (unless I wanted to be like the kid who was flashing in his face the entire time, which I didn’t), but it was worth it. The whole room was dark except for this sort of tri-colored strobe thing he had going on and the crowd was totally rockin out hard, especially the kids who had made their way behind him. Well, the whole crowd except for the three guys standing directly in front of him who couldn’t even muster up a head bob, which was sort of unbelievable based on the energy spewing forth from the speakers. Clearly I’m tired and snarky as I write this. But don’t worry, more pet peeves to come. Travis Egedy informed us that the tour was making its way into Canada the next day, but that Canada wouldn’t allow him into their country, but he insisted that the reason why wasn’t even a big deal. What was a big deal was his set, which may have even been my favorite of the three that performed that night. And now, I present to you, the one picture that didn’t turn out all black. Enjoy it, because that’s all you get.
buy it on 
or amazon
Next up was Small Black. I had actually never heard this group, or at least didn’t know it, but I was familiar with their last track “Despicable Dogs”. But I was pretty impressed and enjoyed them quite a bit. It sort of sounded to me like a combination between Washed Out (or any other “chillwave” artist) and Rusted Root. A bit tribal, but still electronic with high energy beats and drumming. Their set was really fun as well, despite the group of 4-5 guys standing next to me screaming “That’s my jam!” before every single song. I don’t know how old those guys were, but they were definitely old enough to know better. [/snark...well, at least for now] Oh yeah, and the lead singer looks exactly like someone I know, or someone on TV, but I can’t for the life of me figure out who it is. Does anyone know?
Small Black – Despicable Dogs (Washed Out remix)
buy it on or amazon
And last but not least was Ernest Greene, known to many as Washed Out. I think I read somewhere that this whole tour came about by Small Black approaching him and asking him to tour with them, to which he obviously replied yes. And I’d seen video from SXSW, so I already knew that the two musical entities would be performing together. But what wasn’t clear was how the energy of Washed Out would stack up to the two acts before him. Because all you ever read on the interweb is “chillwave this, chillwave that”. And the songs most have heard are for the most part super chill. But chillwave needs to be renamed (sorry Carles) because this performance was anything but chill.
Ernest came out solo to start the set out and started things out right away with high energy tunes that had the entire crowd jumping and dancing like banshees (well, dancing banshees I guess. I’m not familiar with the typical banshee activity). All of the music was way way WAY more high energy than I expected and it was a great way to end the triple bill since the other two acts were all energy all the time as well. He was totally gracious, ending each song with a humble “OK” before the crowd erupted into applause and shrieks and introduced himself just as humbly, saying “My name is Ernest Greene and I’m from Georgia.” Just seemed like a real nice kid. He played probably 5 or 6 tunes solo, including what he called “a new old song” which sounded like a really sped up version of “Feel It All Around” with a much faster beat (although I’m not positive on that) and some other new tunes that were extremely enjoyable and much more uptempo than what we’re used to, and then welcomed Small Black to the stage for the remainder of the show.
It was at this point that I cashed in my “Hey guy in front of me, can I stand in front of you for one song to take pictures?” card. Luckily, unlike my experience the week before, this guy wasn’t a dick, so he said yes. The first song with the full band was “Belong”, and I was glad that I chose that tune for my tune up front. The full band just totally brought this song (and the rest of the set) completely to life. After taking my pics I moved back a bit to rejoin my friends and we all shook our bottoms like no other until there was no more shaking to be done. Mr. Greene was sweating profusely by this point, always the sign of a good performance, and they closed it out with the original “Feel It All Around”, which was perhaps the most low key song of the set, which still had the crowd going all the way. The Majestic Cafe is such a perfect venue for a show such as this.
All in all, the show was just an extremely fun 3 hour dance party. We were all a bit sweaty when we walked outside into the beautiful 70 degree night, and it was clear that the drive home would be windows down all the way. Which just so happens to be my favorite part of summer — windows down driving at night. My Wednesday at work was grim to say the least, but it was oh so very worth it. As Missy Elliot says, “Is it worth it? Let me work it. I put my thing down, flip it and reverse it. Its your flemminificanplandon. Its your flemminificanplandon.” And my response? Yes. It’s worth it.
Oh yeah, and if you’re wondering what that insane final picture is, I have no idea. Someone made it for, I believe, Small Black. And it’s weird and wonderful. And sorry for the blurry pics. I blame it on all the movin’ and shakin’ I was doing.
10/30/2009
pictureplane – goth star
another friday, another dj whos younger than me and wildly more successful in life. this time, its denver native travis egedy who goes by the name pictureplane. at 24 years old hes just released the album “dark rift” this year which has been getting some good attention as of late and is currently touring all over europe, only mildly awesome. ive only heard todays track from the album but it definitely makes me want to check out the rest.
im not sure if everyone will really get this song (actually, im just maybe talking about you turbo…) but its really got a lot of nice things going on. as much as ive really been into electronic music lately, i especially enjoy electronic music that can combine a kickin beat with a pretty melody. this is probably why i went so crazy when i first heard “gax” by boys noize a few weeks ago. hopefully many of you will make it past the first 3 seconds to fully enjoy this track.
buy this track on itunes
