Color Test!

 Let's see who I choose to take with me to pick paint for my kitchen cabinets in a few weeks. If you'll all be so kind as to take this nifty color test, we can see who is awesome at colors. (JV, pulling for you on this one!)

It's been blowing up at work all day, with scores from 0 (which is a perfect score) to about 1000 (which seems impossible to get unless if you are legitimately color blind). I got a lovely score of 4, along with my cubicle mate Eddie, so we're feeling pretty good about ourselves and our matching abilities. It's one of the funnest color tests I've ever done because if you stare at it for too long your eyes start getting all watery and things start to all look the same.

WELLESLEY UPDATE: We now own a tiny baby scorpion that traveled all the way from Italy in a poor rich old lady's suitcase, which promptly fled the suitcase upon arrival home in the town of Wellesley, bit the lady, and then was caught by firefighters. It's safely home in some test area for the biology students and has been affectionately named "Piccolo". I say, GROSS. They have a huge picture of it on the Wellesley website, which has disturbed me every time I've gone there today (which has been about 75 times at least).

-L.A.B
your neighborhood color ninja
A Plus1Press Publication

Starry Night in Dominoes

This actually made me gasp when it all falls in.



You might want to listen to this song after. I did.

-av

A Plus1Press Publication

#SummerJams

Brooklyn Edition.

It's officially summer! You're gonna need some sweet summer tunes to create your soundtrack for beach days & barbecues, and I've got a couple more recommendations that I think you'll enjoy. These two both come from the hotbed that is the Brooklyn indie scene.



Ghost Beach is electro-pop at its finest. The dancey synth parts are right in the wheelhouse of Holy Ghost and Penguin Prison, similar acts from the same Brooklyn scene whose albums were some of my favorites last year.

They've got an EP out, and supposedly an LP this fall. All of their music (including Miracle) is available for free download on their website:  http://www.ghostbeachmusic.com/.  I love when bands do that.



Tanlines has been around for a couple years, opening for acts like Vampire Weekend, Yeasayer, & The xx, and touring with Julian Casablancas (of The Strokes).  They released their first full-length album, Mixed Emotions, this spring.

They have a laid back electronic sound that's fun in the summer. You can download the All of Me single for free from StereoGum.  They also did a very odd music video, featuring dancing old people, with [adult swim].

Enjoy these Brooklyn #SummerJams, I'll hit you with some LA bands next week!

-DMc, West Coast Correspondent

John Mayer's Big Hat

I love John Mayer's Big Hat. The breadth of it, the tassle, the color, the tilt, the whole ness of it. I like his song "Shadow Days" too.



-jv
A Plus1Press Publication

A RCHP Retrospective/Love Letter

The first album I ever bought was Californication. I must have listened to it a thousand times. Its about an hour long 24 hours in a day four days is about a 100 hours 40 days? I have spent 40 days of my life listening to Californication. All Around The World, Scar Tissue, Otherside, Easily, Get On Top, Those Weird Songs in the back half about wolves and english girls. The music videos, the album cover was like the coolest thing I had ever seen. The Second Album I ever bought was Blood Sugar Sex Magik. I played Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 on mute with Blood Sugar Sex Magik on for all of 9th Grade. Under a Bridge (they just found the bridge), Sir Psycho Sexy, GIVE IT AWAY, If You Have To Ask, Suck My Kiss. FACT ALERT Blood Sugar Sex Magik came out the same day as Nirvana's Nevermind. In the CD case with the lyrics and stuff, there were pictures of the band's tattoos. I looked at them a million times. I love One Hot Minute, Pea is the best song, and unquestionably the worst vegetable, and the whole album is good and very short. And later Cabron, Snow, Dani California, Throw Away Your Television, A Minor Thing, Can't Stop, Slow Cheetah. And before Fight Like A Brave and their version of Higher Ground. I just saw this interview with Anthony Kiedis from the set of their Look Around video, Its adorable he is trying to gently GENTLY wrangle his son while talking with a reporter, and hes got a pompadour.



-jv
fan
A Plus1Press Publication

#SummerJams

Super Hipster Edition.

This one's for the ladies; one of my favorite new bands in LA is a trio of sisters called Haim.  They're the best chick-band I've heard in a long time.  Still unsigned, they just released their first music video this morning (audio much better than video):



I've seen them 4 times in LA and had the pleasure of working with them when they opened for Portugal the Man at one of venues that I'm occasionally employed by: super humble, funny girls with a good appreciation for the art they're making and the fans they're gathering.  When I saw them in March, they had their parents (both musicians) come onstage and play a cover. In April, Ryan Adams did a guest spot.

They haven't gotten much radio play in the US yet, but they're on the charts in the UK and were Band of the Week  a few months ago in Vogue.  They received critical acclaim after appearing at South by Southwest in March.

And their EP is available for Free Download.  That's fucking sweet.

I first heard about them because the lead singer dates guitar-virtuoso Blake Mills (formerly of Dawes) and did a duet with him for the "Chimes of Freedom" album (a compilation of Bob Dylan covers that raised money for Amnesty International):



So check them out now, get on the bandwagon while they're still relatively unknown, and then you can sound like a hipster when they get signed and start popping up on traditional media.  Download their free EP: I promise they'll be stuck in your head instantly and leave you wanting more.

-DMc, West Coast Correspondent

Django Unchained

First watch the preview then lets talk about some things in it that are exciting.



LEO IS BACK AND LOOKS LIKE HE IS HAVING A BALL

"The D is silent"

That quick scene where the cotton get sprayed with blood.

Guns on springs that flip up when you bring your hand forward. 

That blue velvet get up with the Austin Powers neckerchief.

"I like the way you die, boy."

Knowing what you will be doing on Christmas DOUBLE FEATURE DJANGO AND GATSBY LEO!!!!!!

-jv



A Plus1Press Publication

Channing Tatum Dirty Dancing

Shout Out to GQ. Today after I had finished ripping out all of the double sided ads in the latest issue of GQ I was reading about Channing Tatum and they mentioned a Dirty Dancing Short he was in and how it was hilarious. I immediately put down The Magazine and went to The Internet, their worst fear I think, and found out that YES in fact the Channing Tatum Dirty Dancing short is hilarious. Far warning, I love Dirty Dancing and have seen it a bunch and that is definitely a big part of why I think this is HILARIOUS. GQ!



-jv
RIP SWAYZE
A Plus1Press Publication

I Am Better Than Your Kids

As promised to JV/AV--

Here's one for the history books.
WARNING: CAN BE EXPLICIT BUT ALSO GUT-BURSTING-LY HILARIOUS.

Here are a few of my faves:

jb

Save the Sounds

Remember Tamagotchi? And how it RAILED little beeps of anger when you didn't feed/play/love it?

Remember VCRs? And the whir of a rewinding VHS tape?

The Museum of Endangered Sounds is a blog by Brandon Chilcutt who has collected the noises of his favorite old technologies. Its a walk down memory lane, a kitchy reminder of the 80s-90s, and the thing that cracks me up more than anything: noises.

 - fp
A Plus1Press Publication

#SummerJams

Double edition.

Summer is upon us!  I know some of you have probably heard "Anna Sun" on the radio by now, and I expect a big push leading up to Walk the Moon's major label LP release on June 19 (the day after some of you see them in Boston).

Here's another band who's EP is very promising and name is fucking awesome: Imagine Dragons.



I've heard the lead single "It's Time" getting some airplay recently, although I actually prefer a remixed version by Penguin Prison, an awesome electro-pop band that I told Rob & Mel to see back in April. You can download that remix HERE. Also, you should definitely check out Penguin Prison's album from last year, because it's fantastically fun.

Another new band that's definitely getting radio play is Of Monsters and Men:



They're like, from Iceland, which is cool.  Also, I love a band that has both male & female lead vocals.

So listen for those two #SummerJams as you hit the beach!

-DMc, West Coast Correspondent

Bambi

Bambi is a female street artist from the U.K. She does really cool things with stencils.

-jv
The Olympics are so soon.

A Plus1Press Publication

"Senior Moments" by Golf Brooks

My Boss pulled me into his office the other day because he urgently had to show me the latest email he had been forwarded. While we waited for HotMail to get fired up I thought about the time he showed me about 50 pictures of the view from his sister's condo's balcony. I just wanted to grab two or three bags of trash and take them to the back door where I lean over the railing and throw them at the dumpster. While I was impatiently waiting to throw trash at a dumpster my Boss loaded a video of a man standing in front of a banner that read "GOLFOHOLICS" I was worried. And then the song started. "Senior Moments" is a great song. Every person who plays a guitar around a campfire should be required to learn "Senior Moments", infact from now on they are.



-jv

A Plus1Press Publication