Design for the Aequinox advertisement at Manhattan Vintage on April 24th and 25th.

I took some hefty influence from the Silhouette Masterpiece Theatre designs, of which I recently purchased a print. The elements and juxtaposition on this particular piece are of my own doing, however, with some specific tweaks and guidance from Sarah.

If you’re in Manhattan on April 24th, stop by the show and buy some clothes. I’ll be there as well, looking out of place and very likely rather disheveled in contrast with the other attendees.

Edit: Made some modifications, and created a second image. The second was done tonight, this is for the mailing cards.

It’s true. I work in one of them. Dry towns, they’re called, for the uninitiated. These are places that never got around to repealing prohibition and now contain just enough votes against change to hold back the rest of the public from ordering a nice glass of wine with dinner. Why? It will destroy the community, of course!

Well, there is another side of the community that suffers from this mindset: the local business owners. And all the people who want to order a glass of wine and didn’t realize they had to bring their own. Oh yeah, and anyone who is in favor of forward progress.

Okay, Maybe I’m a bit biased.

I was commissioned, through EduComp, for the cause – to design a website to showcase the language of those working toward legislation that would allow beer and wine consumption at restaurants in one such town: Tisbury, otherwise known as Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts.

I should note that personally, I drink very little, perhaps one or two beers or a glass of wine in a month, although, like many, I went through a typical teenage binge phase. I blame the heat and madenning peer pressure of Savannah, Georgia. That’s beside the point, however: the legislation would be good for the town. As it stands, people can bring their own beer or wine to dinner, so the drunks are just as able to get drunk. If anything, this would be more regulatory, and it provides those who want to have a drink at a restaurant that option. I have had a lot of trouble understanding the logic behind the fight against it, aside from stubborn traditionalism.

Consider this a call to anyone who lives in Tisbury: please vote on this on April 14th. It’s a town meeting vote to get it on the ballot in 2010. It needs your help to pass. For more information, and some words from those involved in attempting to pass the legislation, visit the site itself: PreservingTisburysFuture.com

I will have a more comprehensive post in the web section about the process of the design of the site soon, and about upcoming websites, when they go live.

brainwaves from ZF FILMS on Vimeo.

@brainwashedcom – (as in brainwashed.com – home of the brainwaves festival) one of my all time favorite music news sources, touching upon the darker side of my listening soul, has joined the land of twitter. I attented Brainwaves in 08 and was deeply thrilled to finally see some of my old favorites: Peter Christopherson, Meat Beat Manifesto, Matmos, and Stars of the Lid. I was also introduced to some musicians such as Marissa Nadler, Glenn Jones (who I met there and learned he’d had his album worked on by one of my childhood friends and classmates, Anthony Esposito), Boduf Songs, His Name Is Alive and many others that enticed me. Brainwashed has always been at the forefront of musical discovery, finding and helping bring success to those bands that eventually grew to relative stardom (Antony, Amanda Palmer, Devendra Banhart, and on and on) but often being overlooked by the powers that they inspire.

Brainwashed deserves credit for pulling culture out of the cracks and feeding it to many who desperately need it, and while that occasionally comes with a low dosage of condescension, their reviews and headlines are usually surprisingly optimistic and pleasant, rarely crucifying their subjects. For a counter-culture online publication with a dedicated base of rabid, often darkly dressed fans, that’s quite impressive.

The bottom line is: if you want to be a step ahead of the music scene, pay attention to brainwashed. Listen to their podcasts. I too have been guilty of ignoring them from time to time, and for that I always kick myself. On their site, they are currently wondering what they’re going to do with twitter. If you’re listening, brainwashed: keep us informed. Remind us when you update, tell us when there are brainwashed bands playing shows, tell us when the DVD is coming, let us know whenever you see Gary Wilson covering himself with baby powder. Tell us pretty much anything, we’ll listen.

By the way, I must show pride, I got this shirt at Brainwavesfest2008 and I am in love. Thanks kranky.

Okay, I don’t know if anyone who reads my posts will care about this aside from me, but I was excited yesterday when, on a whim, I decided to hunt for news about one of my favorite musicians, discovered back in 1995 when Trent Reznor was pimping him on Nothing Records, Kevin McMahon, aka Prick, aka Lucky Pierre, aka Fear of Blue, aka a million other pseudonyms (really Kevin, you need to stick to a name if you want to sell records) is still making music! He has a new song, that I won’t post here for the sake of keeping myself from potential trouble with the man, I’ll only say that it’s good, despite being extremely different.

For the uninitiated, Prick was sort of a one hit wonder with “Animal” back when “Closer” was the talk of the town, but the radio loving public failed to realize that the man behind the music was incredibly talented and diverse. Well, perhaps not failed to realize, but failed to care. His reclusiveness and general disgust with record labels didn’t win him any popularity contests either, but he continued to make music. He takes a notoriously long time between releases, but, and this is what I love: he dares to do something completely different every time.

To me, the most exciting musicians are those who refuse to conform to a style. Granted, there are those that do who I dearly love, and there is something to be said for getting a nice little package full of something you expect and are comforted by, but surprises are fun too, and I like to be challenged and blindsided by the music I listen to.

This is where Kevin McMahon comes in. He drops bombs of unpredictability not just with every album he releases, but every song within these albums. And he manages to do so while writing some of the most catchy, poppy songs I’ve ever heard. He is truly masterful, and I only wish he would come out of hiding more often, and maybe drop some of the Pseudonyms: the really big fans will listen to and love everything you release, Kevin. You don’t need to call it by different names, and you confuse our MP3 players in doing so!

Anyway, enough ranting. I found the man, and this website devoted to his music, and wanted to trumpet it to the world, or at least the world that has found this website. I also want to have something here to remind myself to keep checking in with the man behind some of my favorite songs.

A snippet from the recent interview to whet whistles:

The reason I haven’t pursued a recording contract after the Interscope/Nothing deal is mainly to assure myself the freedom that was jeopardized by entering into that experience. Record labels want/demand that you remain in the style of the previous release and give your fans what they “expect”. I don’t agree with that. I know there is a method to their marketing madness, but I’m more interested in songs as an expression of changing perspective or spontaneous fun rather than the same old soda with a different bubble… Even though many fans are lost along the way, I believe those who stay are in for a richer and more interesting experience.

Read the rest here.

(Art by Roger Von Golling – if anyone has a site link for him please comment, he’s awesome too)