Mesh Magazine

Trail of Dead is an amazing live band that seems pretty disillusioned with the state of the music industry, but also seem to be pretty happy about getting off Interscope Records, based on the hilarious rant (Update: The rant has been removed) that frontman Conrad Keely posted on the band’s website:

“So as has already been announced, …Trail of Dead has once again made history, this time being the first band to drop Interscope. OK, we’re not the first. Actually, Trent Reznor beat us to it. Let’s just say we’re the first rock band to do so… this year. Ever since label head Jimmy Iovine started dating the lead singer guy of the Pussycat Dolls it became impossible to get him on the phone, so that was a first bad sign. Then their idea of marketing became keeping it a secret that we’d released a record. The industry is in a strange place these days, and the only way they can make money is to sell urban pop music. Which is what I thought we were writing, but apparently I was wrong…”

Trail of Dead plays for FREE at Lower Sproul Plaza @ UC Berkeley (Bancroft & Telegraph) with a cartoon death metal band on Friday. Here’s a link to an interview I did with the band soon after the release of Source Tags & Codes, its first release on Interscope. More ranting after the jump.

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I saw on Fecal Face that there is an art sale being held this Saturday to benefit the residents eviction defense at 608C Haight Street. I’ve emailed a few people to find the details. Anyone know the story?

Update: So, yes, my sources are fairly vague, but here’s what I’ve received so far: I think Dwyer* is getting evicted or something and is trying to get some $$ to keep it from happening or something. should be a good show!
*That would be John Dwyer of The Ohsees and The Coachwhips fame. (This info comes from a top Fecal Face Administration official.)

608C Haight Street @ Steiner
with donated works by
Zefrey Throwell
Chris Johanson
Shaun O’Dell
Chris Solaris
Kottie Paloma
Chris Corales
John Dwyer
Kyle Ranson
Brigid Dawson
Archie Mckay
Randy Colosky
Brian Nuda Rosch
Andrew Junge
Jarett Mitchel
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Cottontail

MUSTN’T is Vasta’s first one-person exhibition.

“The starting point for the series was Angela Carter’s feminist reworking of fairy tales- I wanted to capture the sense of magical realism and the gothic in her storytelling.”

The opening reception will be held November 1st from 5- 8 pm @ the Patricia Sweetow Gallery.

Kim Jong Il, spotted in the Tenderloin last Halloween.

With Mayor Newsom killing Halloween in the Castro this year (or not), revelers have turned into mourners and will be conducting a funeral procession down Market Street, starting at 6PM. Whispers of a resurrection have been heard coming from the Tenderloin, and the first two, excellent 21+ options below lend credence to those murmurs.

• As mentioned previously, Apache throws down Misfits covers in the ‘Loin at Death to Disko at the Deco Lounge.

• Also in the ‘Loin, Panache Magazine presents Lemonade, Child Abuse, Clipd Beaks, Oh Sees and DJ Pickpocket in the main bar at the Hemlock.

• DJ Apollo, Triple Threat DJs and more spin hip-hop at Poleng Lounge.

• Annihilation Time, Hightower, Orb of Confusion and Front Side Five bring crushing Metal to El Rio.

A night of freestyle, instant-couture battles is set to take place at 111 Minna, when House of Diehl presents Style Wars, in which designers create fashions live onstage. In addition to the Project Runway-ish mayhem, C.L.A.W.S. will be performing along with DJ All Teeth & Knuckles. $8 in advance/$12 at the door/21+.

Keep reading for a Style Wars video:

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I biked over to GGP this weekend to see a new exhibit at the de Young featuring over 70 sculpture & paper works by American artist Louise Nevelson. She’s best known for filling abstract boxes with discarded pieces that she found on the New York City streets, giving them “a spiritual life that surpasses the life for which they were originally created.” There’s something so romantic about using found objects. The ability and imagination required to take trash and turn it into art is so inspiring.

These pictures simply don’t do her work justice. The size of the artwork is overwhelming and the curators did a phenomenal job arranging, lighting and explaining the works and how they related to one another. I recommend taking the time to watch the short documentary of Nevelson’s work through the eyes of six artist-admirers. Footage of the artist is just phenomenal. Her head wrapped in a colorful scarf, draped in loose flowing clothing, fake eyelashes, extreme makeup, waving her arms around and ordering young men to lift and cut hunks of wood to her specifications, all the while clutching a clove cigarette in her hand. Sensational.

Tomorrow, Halloween night, West Add Radio presents Death to Disko at the Deco Lounge in the Tenderloin (Larkin @ Turk). For one night only, Apache morphs into Miszig, playing Misfits covers to scare your pants off. Plus DJs Nako, Primo, Pickpocket & Conor.

This Saturday, “Non Sequitur”, curated by artist/Life Is Good cartoonist Sacha Eckes, opens at Ritual Coffee Roaster (1026 Valencia Street). Artists featured include Timothy Buckwalter, Bill Dunlap (whose art is pictured above), Sacha Eckes, Nancy Mizuno Elliott, Christopher Jernberg, Alexis Mackenzie, Paul Madonna, Mike Monteiro, Fred Rinne, Brion Nudah Rosch & Ifton Schlinger and Micke Tong. All work will be displayed in 20″ x 20″ white frames, with each artist submitting several pieces, that together are meant to be viewed as a sequential piece of art, similar to Art Spiegelman’s Narrative Corpse. The show runs through December 2nd.

Elvis stole the show at today’s Soapbox Derby at Bernal Speedway. Numerous daredevils headed down the hill with reckless abandon. They somehow managed to dodge the numerous obstacles, including rocks, children and dogs, on the track. Beer and champagne were flowing, BBQs were grilling and the weather was amazing. In other news, this appeared in the New York Times today:

“The reason that vajayjay has caught on, I think, is because there is a black — Southern especially — naming tradition, which is to have names like Ray Ray and Boo Boo and things like that,” Dr. McWhorter said. “It sounds warm and familiar and it almost makes the vagina feel like a little cartoon character with eyes that walks around.”
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The Hard Crack Candy 2 Mixtape Release party went down at Milk on Friday night. DJ Ayres & Mike the 2600 King spun music for the fashionably costumed audience.

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