Today's Pig has Moooooved!!!

Wassup ya'll?

Your favorite blog has gotten a facelift--not to be confused with a face-off. That was a shitty movie from the late 90's starring Nicholas Cage and John Travolta.

Go Netflix that bitch because don't forget what your film teacher always said "it's important even to watch the bad ones". What! You didn't take any film classes? I pity the fool....

Go RSS the new website today and get a free sticker. Sound good? Deal!

www.todayspig.com

MTV's 120 Minutes, the golden age of music

Back when indie rock was "alternative" and MTV was fucking awesome, there was a band doing weird shit in their parent's garages in hellish Stockton, CA called Pavement and they played their weird shit on the greatest damned show in music history, 120 minutes. Oh, how I miss these days....

http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?vid=263237

MTV's keeping that little piece of indie rock history for themselves. Go check it. In the meantime, check this:




The last pinnacle of music? You be the judge.

As a teenager growing up in the suburbs of Northern California with no car, few friends and a far too imposing sense of self-awareness, much of my free time was spent with my adopted family: Nirvana, A Tribe Called Quest, Minor Threat, Akira Kurosawa, Quentin Tarantino and a large, extensive network of branches stemming from those figureheads. They were all inspired, they were all DIY and they were all weird, just like me. I felt comfortable with them. I was no longer the ugly weird kid on the block, I was enlightened and knew what I loved, unlike the other true weirdos in the neighborhood who were uninspired, settled for an uninteresting job that paid enough to cover a mortgage and second car, married a lady who was equally uninspired and grew to resent her for it, had uninspired children who they raised with the same uninspired interest that their parents raised them with and ultimately died having contributed nothing to society of any significance other than a healthy life insurance package that afforded those uninspired children to sustain their uninspired lifestyles as uninspired adults. It's nice to know that sometimes there are anomalies to the common suburban plight.

Enter the Los Angeles lo-fi, post-grunge, post-punk, noise-rock, whatever-the-fuck-you-want-to-call-them, band No Age. Embracing that DIY style of putting out there whatever it is that is important to you, No Age's first album Nouns fits right in with that collection of Cd's that scattered my bedroom floor in the early 90's. The lo-fi recording of Nouns--which was recorded track by track at several studio locations in L.A.--goes along perfectly with the sort of minimalist punk that the duo rips through in under 35 minutes and reminds us that the lonely kid in his bedroom can still fucking do this shit without worrying about the gigantic scope of the music industry. They prove that you have if a good idea, and you love it, and you believe in it wholeheartedly, everything else will fall into place. And that's exactly what's happening for them right now.

They started out just like any other band, recording their shit on four track and tape players and distributing it through a large network of friends and other bands in the L.A. scene--which unlike many other metropolitan art scenes, is incredibly supportive of one another and bypass the jealousy and shit talking that can run parallel to success. Another huge caveat to their propulsion to national consciousness is the Los Angeles art/venue space The Smell, which like NY's CBGB in the late 70's, is quickly reaching cult status supporting other punkish DIY acts like The Muslims (up for an SDMA award for their hit "Extinction"), Abe Vigoda (opening for Vampire Weekend), Mika Miko, Silver Daggers, The Sads, etc. It's become a community, it's thriving, and it's so very indicative of the music they are making, as good things are usually the result of a certain belief and a nurturing that reminds the artist that regardless of the size or magnitude of the masses that it may or may not touch, it's still important.

Fortunately for No Age, their art is reaching the masses and for good reason, the shit is amazing. It just naturally, and somewhat inexplicably feels important for same reason that The Pixies felt important when they released their first EP Come on Pilgrim in the late 80's, or when Nirvana broke into national consciousness in the mid-90's with Nevermind. They all remind you that we can do whatever weird fucking ideas we can conjure up in our weird fucking human brains without convention or previous standard. State of the art doesn't mean shit. Anything is possible.

On that note: all you little weirdos sitting in your rooms with a pair of headphones and no one to talk to and full of strange little ideas that make you and only you smile, be sure that you can do it. Believe in what you love. And all those others, regardless of age--even the uninspired accountant working far too many hours burning his/her fuse and needing a little weirdness in their life--pick up a copy of Nouns and remember what it was like to be free.

No Age - Eraser

Sub Pop Records

The Hundreds: five years in the game.

Oh how the hypebeasts and their ever geeked out brethren will be filling their plaid shorts with some weird shit starting August 1st!

Celebrating their fifth year as co-dominators of the street/skate/punk/hip-hop/urban culture fashion scene, The Hundreds will be throwing a party throughout the month of August in their home turf of Los Angeles at the Foreign Family Gallery.

According to their now legendary blog, held down by the man himself, Bobby Hundreds, "the space will showcase the history of our brand, unveiling original artwork, catalogs and line sheets, memorable photographs, our favorite tees, never-before-seen shirts, and other memorabilia that have built the house of The Hundreds. We will also be releasing our first set of 5TH t-shirts, along with vintage shirts and some tees that you will only be able to buy from the 5TH store."

As a rave up to the event, Bobby took his paints and a roll of blue tape over to Foreign Family and composed an original backdrop piece. It's HUGE, go peep it on The Hundreds blog.

You'd be crazy not to go and get a lesson from a couple of punk/hip-hop kids with big dreams that made it happen.

Also, Check Bobby's little reflection piece on The Hundreds first five years in the game here. It's masterful.

Today's Pig will be there killin fools on Friday!

Congrats fellas!

Super Sweet Dog Advice

Give a dog cheese. He will love you forever. Video coming soon.
Dogs hate vacuums. Don't vacuum a dog. That video is also coming soon.
I had the opportunity to sit down and interview a dog. Here's how it went down:

TP: Is it true you love cheese?
Dog: Yes
TP: Is it true you hate vacuums?
Dog: Yes

And there you have it.

Arrested Development theory

Fahqua, fahqua!

Thanks to our good buddies at Holiday Matinee for this little piece of magic. David Cross pretty much nails it in Mrs Featherbottom wardrobe.

No More Projection Screens

gim·mick /ˈgɪmɪk/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation [gim-ik] noun

1.	an ingenious or novel device, scheme, or stratagem, esp. one designed to attract attention or increase appeal.

2.	a concealed, usually devious aspect or feature of something, as a plan or deal: An offer that good must have a gimmick in it somewhere.

3.	a hidden mechanical device by which a magician works a trick or a gambler controls a game of chance.

4.	Electronics Informal. a capacitor formed by intertwining two insulated wires.

5.	to equip or embellish with unnecessary features, esp. in order to increase salability, acceptance, etc. (often fol. by up): to gimmick up a sports car with chrome and racing stripes.

I'm fascinated with the latest trend of "gimmicks" within the music world. If it's not a projected film, it's a costume. If it's not a costume, it's using trash as instruments. If it's not trash, it's stage props and so on and so on. Some of these gimmicks really help to enhance the live performance but most of the time, it simply annoys the shit out of me. At what point does a gimmick become unnecessary and over the top? It's so easy to do.


I think we need to stop and take a step back. Let's first start with closing your eyes and ACTUALLY listening to the music. Bands who can stand on their own live without the use of stage effects or visual aids should be allowed to be open to the possibility of a gimmick. If you close your eyes and realize you've just wasted somewhere between $5.00 to $25.00 on the show you are at and then you open your eyes only to see a pretentious Godard film being played silently in the background: you've just encountered a band who should NOT have used a gimmick. If I were to write a handbook on how to run a band, I would NEVER suggest introducing a gimmick into a live performance. There have only been a couple success stories. The Album Leaf is known for their use of projections in their live show. They are not the first band to use this tactic, but they are one of the only bands to really get it right. 1) The music alone is good. Their live show would still be great without the projections. The Album Leaf is littered with seasoned musicians who come and go but always get it right. 2) Their projections are not just some kid showing up with his laptop and playing an obscure French film. They are well thought out and programmed visual effects that actually took some time to create. Good job.

Why do I bring up this topic of gimmicks? While standing at Swim Party's cd release show at the Whistle Stop on Friday, July 25, my buddy turned to me and asked, "What do you think of the lights they have?" I stopped. I almost opened my mouth and poured out a bunch of pretentious art student bull shit referencing obscure New York light artists but stopped before any sound fell out. I had a quick realization in my head: I hadn't even really noticed the lights that they had. THAT'S when I realized that Swim Party's little gimmick wasn't pretentious or childish or cheesy. It was just a cool idea. Their simple, straight-to-the-point pop could hold its own. The lights merely illuminated the stage and provided bassist Eric Tremblay with something to hit with this headstock every now and then. Vocalist/guitarist Alex Devereaux provided most of the melodic beef with his echoey guitar and vocal lines that, at times, nebulously blended together beautifully. Petro Halkowycz fills in the space with simple and appropriate drum lines. Some three piece bands can tend to step on each other's toes but Swim Party was a well-balanced trio full of heart. The lights didn't retract from the music or the performance, therefore it didn't bother me.



Just as veterans The Album Leaf weave in and out their fellow musician buddies in live shows, Swim Party invited some of their buds to help with the show. Members of The Modlins, Writer, and even beloved blogger Natalie Kardos took turns ornamenting songs with guitars and keys. It really made me stop and smile. Maybe San Diego really does have a music scene. Maybe not every band in San Diego feels the need to have a cool hairdo or a pretentious attitude or only go to shows to be seen and hopefully be blogged about by CatDirt. It's bands like Swim Party who are genuine--and genuinely just trying to play music and have a great time. It's bands like Swim Party who make me want to go out and see more shows. It's bands like Swim Party who should be allowed to have their little gimmicks and be applauded for it.

But seriously please: no more projections.