The Art of Music @ Scion Space
September 7, 2008 | Categories: Art / Design / Illustration / Los Angeles

I’ve been working like crazy these past few days, so I apologize for the lack of posts. Thankfully though I was able to get out and see the new show at the Scion Space called The Art of Music, showcasing art that’s inspired by music. The show had a ton of great artists like Steven Harrington, Ryan Waller, So-Me, Stefan Marx, PAM, Sanghon Kim, and whole lot more. One wall was dedicated to posters created for the exhibit, while another wall featured other art by the artists involved. I must admit that So-Me stole the show with his giant light-up display, which you can see in the top photo, but my other favorites were definitely Steven and Ryan’s pieces, which you can see in the other two photos.

There’s a bunch of photos under the cut, so be sure to check those out as well. I also want to give a shout out to all the rad folks I met last night! Lionel at Sixpack France, Thomas from Ill Studio for putting on a crazy show, Jonathan from Clark Magazine, Steven, it’s always good to see you, and Mr. Waller, thanks for hamming it up every time my camera was around.

Keep reading The Art of Music @ Scion Space…

Steven Harrington Book Release Party
September 4, 2008 | Categories: Art / Books / Design / Illustration / Los Angeles

The very first thing I thought when I woke up this morning was, “Fuck, I didn’t post about Steven’s book release!” This was until I realized that the signing wasn’t until tonight, and I still had time to do so. Steven Harrington, artist extraordinaire, went on a big ass art tour across Europe along with Justin Kreitmeyer, his friend and associate over at National Forest. I’m sure many of you saw the photos and videos they posted, it was definitely an amazing show. But now they’re back in LA, they’re show now hanging at the Subliminal Projects gallery, so why not top it all off with a book release party as well?

The book features a ton of Steven’s work, as well as a look into the process of making and piecing together his art. He wanted it to be clear that it wasn’t a retrospective, that he’s got plenty of gumption still in him. The signing goes from 6 to 10, the guys from Sixpack France will be there, and you can an awesome book signed by one of the best artists out there today. Steven also says it’ll be a “super fun dance-off”, so if that’s not incentive, I don’t know what is.

Bobby

Bon Iver and AA Bondy at The Troubador
August 26, 2008 | Categories: Los Angeles / Music

This last week has been kind of a blur, what with my birthday on Thursday and then parties and fun times to be had the rest of the weekend. Well the fun didn’t stop, as last night I headed out to The Troubador with my friend Nick to see Bon Iver and AA Bondy, two of my absolute favorite artist/bands. The show started out with AA, who plays all alone with his trusty guitar and a collection of harmonicas. He proceeded to sing some beautiful country ballads and talk about mushrooms to a largely filled room. I was a bit disappointed that he didn’t play American Heart, but c’est la vie. But he did happen to play song called O The Vampyre that I liked quite a lot, which is the second video up there, so check it out.

By the time he finished the room was packed, and eventually Bon Iver made their way out. If you haven’t heard they’re record, For Emma, Forever Ago, then this post might not mean much to you. I wasn’t really sure what to expect when they came on stage. Their record is pretty bare and minimal for the most part, so to my surprise, they TOTALLY jam when they play live. Like improving, noise, feedback, you name it they probably did it. Well, they didn’t smash any guitars…

Overall though I was so thoroughly impressed, they are absolutely fantastic to see live. They played a new song as well called Blood Bank, which if this is a preview of things to come, then the new album is going to be much richer and full of life. They had reached the end of their set, and hadn’t played For Emma, and I was starting to freak out because it’s my favorite song on the record. Thankfully they came back out for one more song, so I yelled at the top of my lungs, “FOR EMMA!!!”, to lead singer Justin Vernon replied, “You got it.” And so they played my favorite song, and all was well in the world.

I posted a Take Away Video they did up top, to give you a sense of the sheer genius these guys possess, I hope you all enjoy it and get the chance to these guys live some time soon.

Bobby

Radiohead at The Hollywood Bowl 2008
August 25, 2008 | Categories: Los Angeles / Music

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing my favorite band in the world, Radiohead, perform at The Hollywood Bowl, one of the best concert venues I’ve ever experienced. This was my third time seeing Radiohead, the first being post-Kid A, and the second being post-Hail to the Thief, the first time being one of my favorite concerts ever, the second being a pretty big disappointment, mostly because Hail to the Thief is crap. But last night could easily be described as one of the single best, if not THE best concert that I’ve ever seen.

The playlist was awesome, hitting songs from every album, and to my enjoyment, they finally didn’t play Creep, thank the gods. Of everything played the most surprising song was definitely Street Spirit, which I totally enjoyed, and was glad they played that instead of The Bends. The most improved song they played was The Gloaming, which is the second video above. I LOATHE The Gloaming, it’s probably my least favorite song ever, but they made it a little dancier, almost a remix of it’s original self, and it was pretty damn rad.

The absolute BEST part of the show though (and possibly the show-stealer), was the lighting. The top video up there is a performance of The National Anthem which should give you a taste of how extremely overwhelming and beautiful the effects were. The Gloaming was also really beautiful and helped to enhance the mood as well. The colors being shot out by those bars was absolutely incredible, I haven’t ever seen anything like this done to this level, it’s a pretty damn hard act to follow.

Hopefully some of you will be seeing Radiohead in the near-future, or possibly already have? I really hope they release a DVD of a live-performance, I’d snatch it up in a heartbeat.

Bobby

Art Shows in LA
August 14, 2008 | Categories: Art / Design / Illustration / Los Angeles

Last night it came to my attention that there are about a million art shows happening in LA this weekend, so I thought I’d try and help fill everyone in on what’s going down.

First up tonight is I AM 8-BIT, the awesome video game inspired show that for the past couple years has been really great. The show runs from 8 to midnight, and if you’d like more information like the address, click the link above. I’d also like to give a shout out to my old friend Ben Klamm who’s having his first bug art show here in Hollywood and his work looks great! Click here for more info on that!

Tomorrow night Secret Headquarters is having a show called Where Have All the Heroes Gone? which features artwork by Mike Bertino. The show goes from 8 to 10 and should have free drinks and awesome super hero art.

Saturday night there are *gasp*… two shows! The first is Neckface’s new show Cannibal Carnival at the New Image Art gallery, which I’m absolutely thrilled to go to. The last one was full of crazy metal death masks and monster abortions, so I’m sure this one will be just as good, if not better.

The second show is called The 3rd Dimension and features artists like Stefan Marx, Andy Mueller and Porous Walker, who’ve created a bunch of 3D art, so that should be pretty fun to go to! These both look rad so I’m gonna try and hit up both of these gems!

Bobby

Simpleasures
August 9, 2008 | Categories: Art / Books / Design / Los Angeles

Today is going to be a pretty fun day, as it’s the opening of Simpleasures, a new event here in LA that’s bringing together the best and brightest in music and art. This first time is “showcasing independent publishing and experimentation in zine making from Los Angeles and beyond.” The whole thing is being put on by the folks at Studio Number One, Forest, and The Dutch Press, and is taking place at the Sublminal Projects Gallery. There’s going to be a ton of rad artists there like Travis Millard, Souther Salazar, Mel Kadel, and Liam Devowski as well as booths and things for sale from Secret Headquarters, Giant Robot, 826LA and a ton more. Not only that, but there’s also going to be music by DJ Diabetic (Shep Fairey), Daedelus, Professor Canteloupe, Danny Holloway, Sodapop, and Lucky Dragon.

The event should be really awesome, it goes from 1PM to 9PM, and there’s even a panel discussion with Souther Salazar and Travis Millard at 7PM, which I imagine will be pretty damn funny. So if you’re in LA you should definitely stop by, it should be amazing.

Bobby

Is This The End of Taco Trucks?
July 9, 2008 | Categories: Food & Drinks / Los Angeles

Photo courtesy of josewollf

One of the best things about Los Angeles is definitely the food. After a long night of dancing and drinking, there’s simply nothing better than a stop by the local taco truck to sober you up for your drive home. Sadly, my friend Max just forwarded me a link from a couple months back talking about Los Angeles County’s attempt at keeping taco trucks off the streets. I guess a number of brick-and-mortar restaurants are complaining that the taco trucks are taking away their business, so L.A. County has passed a law that makes it illegal for them to linger at one location for more than an hour. If they do, they face a “$1,000 fine or up to six months in prison.”

I’m not really sure why, but this pisses me of sooooooo much. If I have a craving for Mexican food, I go to a sit-down restaurant and have a nice meal. When I want a late night snack though, say at 2 AM, that same sit-down place is NOT GOING TO BE OPEN. This is the beauty of taco trucks, they stay open late, they’re cheap, and they’re fast. The picture above is my absolute favorite place in L.A., Taco Zone, and they make the best damn chicken quesadillas. The funny thing is that the closest “restaurant” to Taco Zone is a McDonalds, and the next closest is at least 6 or 7 blocks away.

I think the only thing that may be protecting them is that they moved the truck into the parking lot of a Vons supermarket, so hopefully they’re safe there. Still, it would be a shame to lose any sort of food truck anywhere in Los Angeles.

Bobby

Intelligentsia
June 25, 2008 | Categories: Design / Food & Drinks / Los Angeles

Since I have a lot of free time these days, I’ve actually taken the opportunity to actually relax. I work out almost every day, clean my apartment, and I’ve also started a new obsession… Intelligentsia coffee. I stopped drinking a coffee for a while, it just didn’t agree with me very well. But last August an Intelligentsia opened up down the street from my apartment, one of a handful in the country. Over the weekend Frank and I needed a place to sit outside and drink cool beverages, so we decided to try it out.

Well we ended up really liking it. I had an iced latte and he had a spicy ginger soda. They have misters outside to cool everyone down, beautiful tiles, and the people hanging out are always interesting. What’s cool is that they also have an online store where you can buy their coffee from. I’ve been 3 times in the last week, that’s how good the coffee is. I also love they’re logo and packaging by the way, The Dieline actually just ran a post about the packaging for the coffee last week as well. Definitely check out their site at the very least, and if you happen to be in Los Angeles, be sure to stop by.

Bobby

ROYAL/T
June 15, 2008 | Categories: Architecture / Art / Design / Food & Drinks / Los Angeles

Yesterday I had a pretty epic day with friends Nick and Jen, consisting of brunch at my favorite place in LA, Aroma Café, then shopping at Heritage and H&M at the Beverly Center and finally ending at ROYAL/T out in Culver City. ROYAL/T is a new café/shop/art space that opened a few months ago that’s totally dedicated to all things Japanese-y. It reminded me a lot of Giant Robot, but only if you mixed Giant Robot, GR2 and GR/EATS all together in one big building.

As you walk up to the building you see it’s totally covered in foliage, much like Fred Segal on Melrose. The one difference is that it’s a very convincing but fake foliage. Once you get inside you’re confronted with a giant Yoshitomo Nara dog statue set behind giant panes of glass, sort of like a high-tech version of the cages from Planet of the Apes. This is the gallery portion of the building, filled with Takashi Murakami paintings and other works of Japanese artists. Opposite the gallery is a small shop with art for sale, small blind-packed toys and other knick knacks.

Once you head to the back you enter the café filled with some rather cute tables and ultra-contemporary chairs. We decided have some tea and snacks and they were all really good. I had the Kyoto Sunset tea, a fruity tea with a taste of apricot. I also ordered Avocado Toast which was absolutely delicious. I was expecting something like guacamole on toast, but was surprised to taste avocado mixed with lemon zest and some other spice. It was totally unexpected and extremely refreshing. They also had sandwiches and soups and salads as well, they all looked pretty good. On a side note, all of the food and drinks are brought to you by girls in brown and white maid outfits, furthering the Japanese feel.

I took a bunch of photos with my iPhone, so they’re not the best, but it should definitely give you a sense of the space. If you live in LA I’d highly suggest taking a trip out there, it was particularly nice on a Saturday afternoon. Check out the rest of the photos under the cut!

Keep reading ROYAL/T…

My Take on Dwell on Design
June 8, 2008 | Categories: Architecture / Design / Los Angeles / Magazine

Friday afternoon I headed over the Los Angeles Convention Center for the 3rd Annual Dwell on Design Conference and Exhibition, something I had been really excited about since I first saw the ads pop up in the magazine. I got there around 1pm and it wasn’t very busy, which I was happy for, but there also wasn’t as many exhibitors as I thought there would be.

My friend Frank ended up meeting me there and we walked around, were slightly disappointed my the lack of really exciting products or services or whatever I thought I might find there. Not to say there weren’t some really cool things, but I had higher expectations. Frank and I were a little annoyed that everything was “hip and modern”, like there was no other way to describe the things you’re selling. The highlight for me was the cute, blonde guy at the GOOD Magazine booth who let me take a free magazine. Seriously.

I’ve posted photos of some of the other things that I really liked under the cut along with some descriptions, so check out more under there!

Keep reading My Take on Dwell on Design…