Spring Thing: Can I Borrow Your Mixtape? #9

photo by Annabel Graham. New York, December 2011.

Spring is one of my favorite seasons in New York... and it's almost here! So is the latest installment of mixtapes... It's a good one. If I do say so myself. Click below to download.

Can I Borrow Your Mixtape? #9

Enjoy!

A Brief Photo Summary of APF 4

As promised... a few photos I took at Austin Psych Fest. All shot on 35mm with a Canon AE-1 Program.

May Day: Can I Borrow Your Mixtape? #5

photo by Annabel Graham

ANIMALS

Have you forgotten what we were like then

when we were still first rate
and the day came fat with an apple in its mouth

it's no use worrying about Time
but we did have a few tricks up our sleeves
and turned some sharp corners

the whole pasture looked like our meal
we didn't need speedometers
we could manage cocktails out of ice and water

i wouldn't want to be faster
or greener than now if you were with me O you
were the best of all my days

-Frank O'Hara

[1950]

& some swell springtime tunes:

Can I Borrow Your Mixtape? #5

Forget Coachella... Doesn't this look so much better?

Although I had an incredible time at Coachella last spring, I sadly won't be attending this year. However, I am going to be attending Austin Psych Fest, a three-day celebration of psychedelic rock (and experimental visual art) in one of its birthplaces-- Austin, Texas. There's something to be said about smaller music festivals, as they're exponentially less hectic, less expensive and much more intimate. In the summer of 2009, I took a road trip up to Lake Tahoe with one of my best friends to attend Wanderlust, a four-day music and yoga festival that took place against the gorgeous backdrop of Squaw Valley-- we took two yoga classes a day, rode the gondola up to the summit of a mountain where the main stage was set up, listened to Broken Social Scene, Jenny Lewis, Rogue Wave, Spoon and Andrew Bird live (I was actually close enough to touch his adorably awkward Chaco sandals) while bathing in natural lakes, and danced to GirlTalk under the stars. It was the first year that Wanderlust took place, so there were only about a thousand attendees, which was actually amazing-- no pushing past sweaty E-tards while trying to find your friends, meanwhile having no cell service because of the massive amount of people trying to use their phones in such a condensed space, no $2 water bottles being sold by manipulative people in ugly visors who actually tell you to tip them (yes, this happens at Coachella), etc.

The Black Angels

Needless to say, I'm more than excited for this year's Austin Psych Fest, which will feature both established and newly emerging psych-rock bands such as Atlas Sound, Crystal Stilts, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Dirty Beaches, Crocodiles, Tobacco, The Growlers, Black Ryder, Beach Fossils, The Soft Moon, Pete International Airport and ZaZa, as well as established psych-rock cult favorites such as The Black Angels, Spectrum and Roky Erickson (of 1960's psychedelic band 13th Floor Elevators), among many others. And the best part is that I've been generously given a press pass and assigned to take pictures/report on the festival by Oliver Kupper, founder of Pas Un Autre! My follow-up article will appear on his wonderful arts & culture journal/blog.

Alta Real Pictures recently released Oswald James’ documentary of last year’s Psych Fest, which features performances from The Raveonettes, Spindrift, Pink Mountaintops, Warpaint, Spectrum and others. Watch the trailer below (and tell me if Psych Fest doesn't look amazing!!):

AUSTIN PSYCH FEST 3 TRAILER from oswald james on Vimeo.

Curated by The Reverberation Appreciation Society and Austin-based band The Black Angels, the fourth annual Psych Fest will take place at the Seaholm Power Plant in downtown Austin from April 29th-May 1st, 2011.

April Fool's: Can I Borrow Your Mixtape? #4

Photo by Ellen von Unwerth

Reasons to celebrate:

1) It is finally April... which means sunshine (or rain, if you're on the east coast), Easter, blooming flowers, picnics in the park and lots of music festivals!

2) I have finally learned how to make zip files... which means no more inane clicking!!!

But this mix really sucks, so you shouldn't download it.... APRIL FOOL'S! (I know I'm a day late, oops). It really doesn't suck. In fact, it's great. Find out for yourself:

Can I Borrow Your Mixtape? #4

Enjoy!

Can I Borrow Your Mixtape? #3

Spring is just around the corner (in fact, according to the so-called Groundhog, it already is spring... but I've never believed him), and for those of us in school, so are midterms. What better way to procrastinate from beginning that daunting 8-page Lacan paper than a new playlist? None that I can think of. Except for attempt to untangle your jewelry (see above), or maybe what I did last night, which was see Des Hommes et Des Dieux (English title: Of Gods and Men), Xavier Beauvois' startlingly gorgeous (and horrifically depressing) film about French missionaries holding their ground against brutal Islamic extremists in Algeria during the mid-90's. Yes, it's sad, slow-moving and long, but I highly recommend it-- the stunning visuals alone are worth the time you may not have spent studying for that Physics test (ha, Physics... who am I kidding?). Oh, and it includes the most adorable little old man I've ever seen in my life, Jacques Herlin (pictured below), who plays Frère Amédée. Anyway, here it is, kids:

Can I Borrow Your Mixtape? #3