Picture
The way I found these guys? The radio. What a concept, trade cars with your mom and listen to what the public suffers from. Lucky for me, my radio station doesn't suck - though they inevitably will play the same songs over and over if you listen for too long.

Anyway, a little background on these guys for your reference. Two of these guys are brothers, Christian Mazzalai and Laurent Brancowitz. Interestingly enough, Laurent had a brief stint in a band known as Darlin' before he joined Phoenix permanently. The remainders of that broken band wouldn't go on to do much without him...just go on to start a group by the name of Daft Punk. Perhaps you've heard of them?

The group, consisting of the aforementioned brothers plus Thomas Mars and Deck d'Arcy, hail from France and perform alternative rock for your listening pleasure. Winners in the Best Album category at the 2009 Grammy Awards Show, Phoenix is a good listen. Check out the track below as proof - they're pretty talented. Enjoy

 
Picture
Girl Talk is a master of the mash up music scene. A Pittsburg native, Gregg Gillis (his real name) takes multiple tracks and 'mashes' them up to make one unique sound.

In the sample below for example, we've got 9 - yes 9 - different artists' sounds sampled at various times to create a unique piece of work (for reference: Black Sabbath, 2Pac, Jay-Z, Ludacris, Jay-Z again with a different track, N.W.A., Eminem, Cali Swag District, and Jane's Addiction).

Overall, I think it's some pretty impressive stuff...might just need to add of few of these to the regular listening playlist...

As a tribute to his greatness, magazines and publications such as Time and Rolling Stone rated Girl Talk's album "Feed the Animals" one of the top releases to hit the music scene in 2008. Check out a sample of his work below, and as always - ENJOY.

 
Picture
Urban art, by definition via Wikipedia, "is a style of art that relates to cities and city life often done by artists who live in or have a passion for city life". It spans a wide range of styles, but they usually carry some sort of message or purpose.

Julian Beever is a unique face in the art crowd in that he uses chalk as his primary weapon instead of stencils and spray paint like a majority of others. I suppose the fact that chalk washes off would also help keep him out of trouble (unlike the guys using stencils and spray paint..). Not so much into the political scene, Beever seemingly prefers light-hearted images for his audience to experience.

Noted. But how does he create these wild illusions?

Anamorphosis is form of art that when viewed from the correct angle, can provide a 3-D appearance (see photo). Using only a camera to aid him (it helps maintain perspective when he looks through the lens), Julian creates stunning pieces of art on the pavement using this method. Check out his official gallery for other great work (including drawings and canvas pieces.)

 
Picture
Evan Mast (Left) and Mike Stroud
15 mg. of Adderall in my system, and I ready to study. For studious purposes, I try to listen to tracks with no lyrics (classical, electronic, anything). I've been on a Ratatat binge lately, so I looked up similar artists and found the album Parking Lot Music by E*Vax.

As it turns out, he's half of Ratatat. Might explain some things I suppose (his real name is Evan Mast). Working solo on this album, E*Vax applies a very simple yet well composed beat to his tracks that has me hooked to his electronic rhythm. Evan mainly produces LP's now, but his studio album Parking Lot Music is definitely worth a listen. Check out his remix of the classic "Wildcat" by Ratatat below.

 
Picture
Maybe you've seen this guy on Entourage before? Yeah me too. I never actually looked into his work until today, and I'm glad I did. Using the music service Music Roamer, I actually did a search on Ratatat and found him...sweet sauce.

Saigon combines a catchy flow with head bobbing beats that make for excellent sounds (especially with BASS!). Originally from the NYC, Brian - his legal name - recently released his new album The Greatest Story Never Told in 2011, and after taking a listen I'm already putting songs on repeat. Check out his video below to see what I mean.

 
Picture
They say a picture is worth a thousand words...
Sometimes, art isn't always in plain view. Sometimes it's drawn on a napkin or written on a window some place. Sometimes it's sad, other times it's insightful. Whatever time it is, it usually makes you think..

FOUND Magazine is a site that has users submit notes, photos, and other stuff they find on the street or elsewhere - usually with some thought provoking message included. Considering how much stuff like this we find on a day-to-day basis, it makes me wonder why I've never seen anything publication like it before (now I really wish I saved this random grocery list I found yesterday in class...which included tampons, "something to make that smell go away" and Plan B). Check it out daily to see what's been found in this crazy society of ours....

 
Picture
Tyler and the rest of OFWGKTA
Hailing from the streets of Los Angeles, Tyler the Creator is only 20 years old but has a flow like someone years older. After taking a suggestion from my roommate, I took 3 minutes out of my day to listen to somethin' new.

3 minutes later, I'm almost convinced that this kid and his group (Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All or OFWGKTA for short) will be taking the hip-hop scene by storm in the near future. Don't believe me? These guys were just on TV with Jimmy Fallon for his late night show, which leads me to believe I'm not the only one that thinks these guys are doing something right..

Anyway - even if they don't grow beyond their initial fame, I'll still have a spot for Tyler and his crew on my iPod. Take a listen -

 
Picture
1 week after the tragic earthquakes in Haiti...
If you've been following my recent articles, you may have noticed that I've taken an interest to urban graffiti, aka street art. While the imagery itself is beautiful, its the political/social messages depicted by the artists that really stand out to me. While that seems to be a common theme, there are also a good sum of artists that take to the streets just to take a crack at society or express their feelings.

"Above" - who conceals his identity to avoid jail time I'm sure - started in the mid 90's and has since been making his mark all over the world ever since. Known more for his political artwork than anything else, you can find his pieces on various walls across the globe, including Paris, Cuba, New York, and more. Check out his work on his website at http://www.goabove.com/. Enjoy.