Musings

Musings

From Lord Huron to Superhumanoids, Director Arms Race's Best Music Videos

For the past six years, our buddy Evan Weinerman aka Arms Race has been one of our favorite music video directors and a standard go-to for us and a number of our best friends in music ranging from Lord Huron to Local Natives to Superhumanoids and more. 

Today, we review our favorite of his clips with some commentary on each from the man himself, whose creative vision never fails to take us somewhere interesting.

Musings

A Letter From Kisses: The Inspiration Behind 'Rest In Paradise'

It was our great pleasure Friday to release Kisses' new album, Rest in Paradise. As the Los Angeles duo's third LP, we feel it's their strongest work to date, crafted around great songs and moving grooves, performed live to record with New York's mighty disco band Midnight Magic. 

We are always eager to know and tell a deeper story — below is a letter from Kisses' Jesse Kivel and Zinzi Edmundson have penned explaining their work, influences and creative processes in the context of their ever evolving life together.

Musings

Exploring the Timeless Worlds of Hayao Miyazaki

Priscilla Ahn was born in Pennsylvania and, like many of us, raised on Disney cartoons. But when she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in music, she became engrossed in the works of Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, drawing some of her deepest inspiration from his compelling characters and vivid storytelling.

The unlikely result of this infatuation was Priscilla's musical contribution to When Marnie Was There, the final film by Miyazaki's production studio. How she got there is a fascinating journey fit for a Miyazki film itself.

Musings

An Idea Is Art: Forming 'Hypothetical Beats' With Astronauts, etc.

For the last several months, Anthony Ferraro of Astronauts, etc. has been writing code, making algorithms for a new piece of music-generating software he's personally invented called Hypothetical Beats. In this time, the Oakland-based artist traveled the country working on this project with an outlandish crew he often has referred to as "hackers". Now, looking back, the journey he took to create it is just as interesting as the tool he designed. 

Musings

Darren Weiss & His Dirty, Sexy, Off-Beat Poetry

It’s a bit ironic that PAPA’s music feels so from-the-gut when the band’s lead songwriter — our friend Darren Weiss — is such a cogitator. In Darren’s poetry, he lets us into his psyche a little more, giving passage to intimate creative moments. It’s how we can know him better, as a friend and artist. The poems are thoughtful, sexy, fun, often just really fucking funny, and worth appreciation.