Rubin Recommends

(Part of The Weekly Check In series)

I just want to start out with saying that Brandon Brown and I share a birthday. It gives us something that no other friend and I can share AND we live in the same neighborhood in San Francisco.

I met Brandon Brown in Kansas City around 1995 or 96. He did a zine I loved called “Dee Dee’s Kids” and a few others. He’s an amazing writer and if you read this check in you’re about to get a good little guide to music jams, as well as food and drinks in San Francisco.

http://brandonbrown.blogspot.com (and the other links he mentions below)

Rubin: What are you currently working on or just finished that you’re excited about?

Brown: It’s been a pretty busy and productive late summer and fall. One thing that’s winding down for me is the (New) Reading Series at 21 Grand (http://newyipes.blogsppot.com), a series I co-curated with Alli Warren at 21 Grand gallery in Oakland. I had a terrific time doing it, and we were able to invite some of my favorite writers from around the country to come and read for a pittance (or less). I’m taking a little break from curating, but am planning on releasing two new chapbooks this fall from my small imprint OMG! (http://omgpress.blogspot.com).

At home, I’ve been working on a translation of the Roman poet Catullus, writing a collection of pervy lyric works, and mostly preparing for a performance and hullaballoo in September at Small Press Traffic @ California College of Art. I’m also writing a collaborative novel with local poet Suzanne Stein.

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View the work of UK-based illustrator Robert Hunter. (via Spike Jonze’s We Love You So)

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View the work of San Francisco, CA based painter Henry Gunderson.

I was pleasantly surprised when I walked into the Fecal Face Dot Gallery in San Francisco to see his work, it’s even better in person. If you’re around you should go check it out while it’s still up, If not here is a post about the opening on Fecal Face with lots of photos of the show.

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The Rural Alberta Advantage are from Toronto, Ontario and they released their record Hometowns on Saddle Creek early this month. I think what really struck me is that the singer sounds like Jeff Magnum so much on the song “Luciana.” I listened to this on repeat all day yesterday.

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MP3 >> The Rural Alberta Advantage – Don’t Haunt This Place

Purchase Hometown from iTunes.
Listen to more at Myspace.
Read a review at Pitchfork.

View the design work of Portland, OR based artist Nicole Lavelle. I love her stuff, found it from Pinball Publishing, that I am excited to get to start working with this week!

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Ever since I heard Lolita from Throw Me The Statue’s first record Moonbeams, I’ve loved them. (The cover art was amazing on that record.)

Their new album Creaturesque (produced by Phil Ek) comes to us on August 4th on Secretly Canadian. You can pre order it now and even though I haven’t heard the entire thing yet, I can’t wait.

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MP3 >> Throw Me The Statue – HI-FI Goon

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MP3 >> Throw Me The Statue – Ancestors

Pre-order Creaturesque at Amazon.
Listen to more on Mypsace.
For more info visit http://www.throwmethestatue.com.

Also here are their upcoming tour dates: w/ The Brunettes and Nurses

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View the series titled “Blandscape” by photographer Martin Buday.

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(pictured above: Magnolia Electric Company: Josephine)

(If they have a STAR by them, it means I’ve heard it and I like it. Album title links go to Amazon. If I miss any good releases, please add them in the comments.)

Music:
Bad Veins: Bad Veins
Birds of Avalon: Uncanny Valley
The Fiery Furnaces: I’m Going Away
Her Space Holiday: Sleepy Tigers
Lights : Rites
Magnolia Electric Co.: Josephine
Major Lazer: Guns Don’t Kill People…Lazers Do
Megafaun: Gather, Form And Fly
Bad Veins: Bad Veins
Birds of Avalon: Uncanny Valley
The Fiery Furnaces: I’m Going Away
Her Space Holiday: Sleepy Tigers
Lights : Rites
Magnolia Electric Co.: Josephine
Major Lazer: Guns Don’t Kill People…Lazers Do
Megafaun: Gather, Form And Fly
Michael Jackson: The Collection (5 Disc Set )
The Nerves: One Way Ticket
Portugal. The Man: The Satanic Satanist
School of Seven Bells: Alpinisms
Sean Bones: Rings
The Starlight Mints: Change Remains
Wheat: White Ink, Black Ink
The Working Title: Bone Island
Wye Oak: The Knot

DVDs:
The Mighty Boosh: Season 1
The Mighty Boosh: Season 2
The Mighty Boosh: Season 3
This American Life: Season Two
Watchmen

(this photo is not in photozine #2 just liked it)

I got a little surprise gift in the mail today from photographer Pat Graham, the new Modest Mouse photozine #2! Great photos, great commentary, and quality printing. You should go get one now.

View more photos at their photoblog.

About:

“The photozine features photos of the band from recent tours by Pat Graham and was edited by Isaac Brock. The MM zine series provide an intimate documentary of life on tour with Modest Mouse, against a backdrop of changing landscapes, venues and performances. The second zine includes many previously unpublished images as well as favorites from the photoblog, with captions and hand written stories from the band and Pat Graham. These are very limited and will sell out fast. Zines can be purchased right now online from RAEN.”

(Part of The Weekly Check In series)

I’ve never met Jessica Hopper in person (a lot of friend of a friend) but if you were into music in the scene I was, her name or her zine Hit It Or Quit It was often around.

Jessica Hopper is an author/journalist and just released her new book The Girls’ Guide to Rocking, which she’s now on tour doing readings from currently. She regularly writes for The Chicago Reader, Chicago Tribune and LA Weekly and also does music supervision for one of my favorite shows, This American Life. I’m so glad we’re in touch now.

You can find out more by reading her blog at http://tiny.abstractdynamics.org and keeping up with her on Twitter.

Rubin: What are you currently working on or just finished that you’re excited about?

Hopper: I just finished sleeping for nine hours straight and I am totally excited by that. I have been on tour for the last week and haven’t slept more than four hours a night due to six a.m. flights. I didn’t have to work at it though. Other than my book and subsequent tour, I am excited about this long piece I just wrote for Chicago Reader about David Bazan and following him around the Christian music festival, Cornerstone, which he just played, despite now being agnostic. He and his record, the new one about to come out, are just brilliance. We are lucky we have music is so smart.

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