Japandroids' Celebration Rock

Two dudes (with vocalizers).  One guitar.  One drum kit.  The best band in the world right now.  A one-sentence band bio I banged out on Memorial Day while I should be doing other stuff:

Raw enough to sound right out of the garage with the nuance and cynicism that comes with the experience of navigating the indie rock landscape of the early 21st century for a half decade, Japandroids are a proper rock band that eschews beat drops and electro-synth drudgery for a sound that screams of small, sweaty venues and damaged hearing.

Japandroids' second LP, Celebration Rock, drops on June 3 on Polyvinyl Records.

The Mill

Thrillist has produced this video detailing the concept behind The Mill, a collaborative design space in Northeast Minneapolis which gives members access to sweet stuff like 3D scanners and printers, plasma cutters, and other fabrication gear that is simply not feasible for the garage-level industrial designer.



In addition to membership ($125/month or $1200/year) The Mill offers classes to the public on everything from Epilog laser cutters to open sewing sessions.  Another fine addition to the Northeast creative scene.

RIP MCA

A titan of rap music and a member of one of the most influential bands of the last 30 years, Beastie Boy MCA, Adam Yauch, has died from cancer at age 47.  It's a sad day for music fans my age, who heard their older brothers and sisters bump Licensed to Ill in '86 and got the full flavor of the Beasties' blend of musical fusion, with funk, hip hop, punk, and rock, on the massive Ill Communication album, released in 1994.

In addition to music, I remember Yauch for his dedication to worthy causes.  Specifically, his organization of and participation in the Free Tibet movement and concert in the late 1990s.

Personally, the first arena rock show that I went to was the Ill Communication tour in 1995, when my friends and I crashed the floor to the Beasties belting out No Sleep til Brooklyn.  To this day, I can still recite every single lyric to Get It Together.  That show and that album were a huge part of my musical education, and are part of a time and memories that I'll keep with me forever. 

My thoughts are with the Yauch and greater Beastie Boys families, what a huge loss for everyone.

In Theaters This Weekend...

A Little Bit of Heaven, starring Kate Hudson and Gael Garcia Bernal, is a romantic romp th-- NO.  COME ON.



This weekend's big opening is none other than Marvel Comics' The Avengers.  Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Samuel L. Jackson, and the guy from that Eminem video like ten years ago, this is the first BIG summer movie for me.

I'll admit that when it comes to the comics, I'm an X-Men guy.  The Avengers were always so vanilla and mamby-pamby, with Captain America and Thor being two heroes who bore the brunt of my nerd rage, but as a sci-fi/fantasy aficionado, I have to say that this movie gets it going for me.  The Dark Knight is the number one superhero movie of all time for me, but I'd be lying if I said this wasn't one I'm really hoping lives up to the hype.

For novices, here's a summary of the heroes, villains, and their powers:

• Nick Fury (Jackson): The guy was always white in my day, but whatevs.  The uniting force behind the Avengers and head honcho of the SHIELD agency.  Threats and government funding appear to be his superpowers.
• Captain America (Chris Evans): Genetically altered by potions and lightning by the Army in the 1940s.  Frozen in ice for a long time, emerges confused and angry.
• Iron Man (Downey): Come on, you saw this one right?  Crazy billionaire in an indestructible metal suit.
• Thor (Hemsworth): Norse god, son of Odin, wielder of the hammer Mjolnir, generally condescending. 
• The Hulk (Ruffalo): Again, come on, normal guy gets angry and turns into a raging green giant?  You know this one.
• Black Widow (Johannson): Former KGB agent who gets juiced with some super soldier serum, also very attractive.
• Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner): He is very accurate with a bow and arrow.  I'm serious, that's it.
• Loki (Tom Hiddleston): The villain of this tale, brother of Thor, Norse god of mischief, super genius.

The plot will go something like this: disaffected superheroes brought together by S.H.I.E.L.D. supremo Fury learn to accept each other and work as a team in the face of total annihilation by Loki and his mystical forces.  The action will culminate in a final battle with only one inevitable outcome.  

A NON-STOP THRILL RIDE THAT WILL LEAVE YOU GASPING FOR AIR.  Rated PG-13.

"Jetman" Yves Rossy: Now With More Loops

In the culmination of the best part of my childhood dreams (that didn't involve a spacecraft equipped with a hyperdrive), Yves Rossy, alias Jetman, has just released this video of him performing outrageous aerial feats with a bit of carbon fiber and two model jet engines strapped to his back.  That's not even a cursory explanation, that's literally what it is (okay that's not strictly true, but it is more or less an accurate description for those of us who aren't jet propulsion and/or aeronautical experts).

Having already demonstrated his prowess with the Grand Canyon as the backdrop for a previous YouTube sensation, this newest video takes things higher, to the Alps in his native Switzerland.  The video above isn't his first flight among Europe's tallest peaks, but if you take the time to browse the video of his previous flights, you can see his repertoire of maneuvers and skill at handling his invention are only getting better.

The specs for this incarnation of the wing have it weighing in at 55 kg fully fueled with a 2 meter span.  The power comes from four Jet-Cat P200 engines putting out 22 kg of thrust.  All of this combines to fire Yves through the air at an average speed of 200 km/h, and up to 300 km/h on descent.  

The controls?  Well, according to his site, the Jetman flies with "nothing but his body and feelings."  In effect, he uses the Force with a parachute and some rocket fuel strapped to his back.  Remarkable, amazing, and long may he continue unmaimed.

via Colossal

Rivendell Mountain Works

Whilst browsing the internet in the midst of my morning bout of incapacitating, insomniac anxiety, I came across a post on one of my old standbys (Cool Hunting) about a collaboration pack from some man and Rivendell Mountain Works.  I was immensely pleased, and I'll tell you why:

Rivendell, for anyone who hasn't seen a film in the last ten years, is a mountain refuge of the elves in JRR Tolkien's Middle Earth, of Lord of the Rings fame.  It is, I am not ashamed to say, a book I've read many many, many many many times.  Expecting, therefore, some young bucks who were fresh out of college and inspired by Peter Jackson's truncated, abridged, and otherwise inadequate trilogy, I was surprised to learn that this cottage business had its roots in the early 1970s.

The packs are "vintage remakes" of designs from a time before Gore-Tex and aluminum alloy frames were commonplace, let alone widely available, and therefore evoke some of the romance not only of a simpler time in this world, but of the fantastic adventures of Elves and Men in the mind of Tolkien.

And THAT, good people, is enough nerdish wistfulness for one morning's work.

The website, by the designer's own admission, is a bit crude, but full-sized packs appear to run around $175, and being a small operation, you can have a unique input into how yours is made.  Available in "Kheled-Zaram" Blue, "Dragon-Fire" Orange, "Shire" Clay, and "Emyn Muil" Brown.  Shop and learn more about the community here.

C215 Stencils in Barcelona

Stencil artwork by C215 of Paris.  I'll tell you a secret: C215 probably stands for Cris.  L337speak veteran up in this.

via juxtapoz

M.I.A. Bad Girls

I was fairly dismayed when I saw the peerless Maya Arulpragasam selling out on Super Bowl Sunday with that old lady who has sold lots of records, but then I saw this video and it made me feel much better. After her unanimously panned 2010 album MAYA, this British Tamil sounds like she's back to her best.

 The video is by Romain Gavras and is exceptional in that it combines the desert, dirty rap, and German automobiles on two wheels. Four minutes well spent.

Y-3 Honja Low

Here's a look at the new Honja Low sneaker from the collaboration brand by Adidas and Yohji Yamamoto, Y-3. I'm of the school of thought that denim is really only fit to be worn on the legs (unless there's a dire emergency, like having four legs and no appropriate attire for the two that are located where your arms should be), but these beauties have been done up tastefully (and well they should for $250, because you could buy two pairs of designer jeans or a denim tent for that price).

Like: the stylish bronze finish on the leather. Bosh, as they say in certain parts of the white world.
Dislike: giant Y-3 logo on the heel and tongue (click on the P & B link below to see better pics, it's all Flash and I'm lazy so the one up top is all you get).

Available at Park & Bond for the aforementioned exorbitant price of $250.

via hypebeast

Hokusai Manga

For the art lover, Japanophile or shameless hipster in your life, consider this ponderous 970 page tome containing the 15 separate sketchbooks, or manga, of Edo-period illustrator Katsushika Hokusai.

Best known for his masterpiece The Great Wave of Kanagawa, which is my favorite work of art bar none, Hokusai painted and made woodblock prints in the ukiyo-e style. His great inspiration was Fuji-san, or Mt. Fuji. His collection of prints titled Thirty-Six Views of Fuji-san--of which The Great Wave is a part--is the most famous series of prints in the genre.

The book itself is a collection of his sketches and drawings, which start with a demonstration of his style of geometrical construction, which is basically exactly what it sounds like: building a drawing based on geometric shapes.

The rest of the pages are filled with his playful and seemingly effortless sketches and prints.

This is a real bargain over at Amazon for $43.

via CoolHunting