Canadian Blast BBQ at SXSW

Are you going to be at SXSW?  Not so keen on Rachael Ray?  You should probably come to the Canadian Blast BBQ.  Even if you're not Canadian you're welcome, as long as you have a SXSW badge, 'sall good.  Canadians are nice people, and also, the bands playing are pretty damn awesome:

United Steel Workers of Montreal

The Pack AD

City and Colour (which is the surprisingly cool acoustic side project of Dallas Green, lead singer of Ontario hardcore outfit Alexisonfire)

Hot Springs (who we at Frontside here are particularly fond of, despite the fact that they have the least google-able band name ever)

Dragonette (the Midnight Juggernauts' remix of their song "I Get Around" -- listen to it here at hypem-- was probably one of my favourite songs of 2007)

and a bunch of awesome hip-hop, featuring Cadence Weapon, Skratch Bastid, Grand Analog, etc....

Wednesday 3/12 from 3 to 7 PM, under the big top at Brush Square (across from the Austin convention center.)  Be there. Or else. K. Cool. 

Canadianblast.com

or be friends with Canadian Blast @ Myspace and Facebook

Pitchfork claims launch of Pitchfork.tv and licensing will not affect criticism

Daily Swarm just posted some quotes (and then predicted that assholes like me would blog about it) from a great interview that music critic Jim DeRogatis did with Pitchfork Media head honcho Ryan Schreiber regarding the upcoming launch of Pitchfork.tv and (oh, god) Pitchfork licensing -- and what that means for the ever-so-strict journalistic and critical standards of the site.

 

There are some who regard Pitchfork as the ultimate in current tastemaking; others think it's devolved from such to a bunch of narrow-minded old-school Pavement fans trying far too hard to write snarky, literary reviews bound entirely to the fast-changing hipster notions of what's cool in the totally passe genre of good old "indie rock." Regardless, its influence and audience remain wide, and this obviously has the potential to become a BFD pretty quickly (case in point: my first reaction was along the lines of "Well, better get to know one of their content editors, ASAP.")  But can a company licensing songs to video games be taken seriously as a source of unbiased criticism?  Will the user rating system (think stars on YouTube, or a section of most-viewed or most-favourited) influence the site's reviews and choice of news to publish?

DeRogatis: Fair enough, and that’s a valid point: Everybody is talking about what the models of the new media universe will be, but what you’re talking about is one of the oldest ideals that have existed from the start of print journalism: The advertising people don’t talk to the editorial people. There’s a firewall between them.

Schreiber: Right! Exactly. Exactly! And I mean, that’s the way that it’s always been set up, and that’s the way that we’re setting up Pitchfork.tv as well. And Pitchfork.tv is not even in the same city as Pitchfork editorial! They are independent things; it’s not the same people writing who are shooting.

DeRogatis: Sure. But at the end of the day, you’re the owner of all of those businesses.

 

Schreiber claims that nothing will change and that Pitchfork is still based on loyalty to fans and not, well, royalty, but DeRogatis definitely ruffled a few feathers with comparisons to the MTV empire and Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone.  Seems to me proof of Pitchfork's widespread media influence and position in pop culture, and an interest comment on the power of more personal internet-based media over print and television  -- but the final death knell of the site as a trustworthy source of unbiased indie journalism and quality criticism.  The whole interview, though lengthy, is a worthy read -- check out the whole thing at the Sun Times here.

Holy f*ck, Rachael Ray likes the Foo Fighters

BrookylnVegan and Stereogum readers couldn't control their joyful disdain when obnoxiously perky Food Network queen Rachael Ray announced that she was hosting a SXSW party, slated to feature her husband's band, The Cringe, along with Holy Fuck, The Raveonettes, Scissors For Lefty, and more. Ms. Ray doesn't care that you indie snobs criticized her, though. In fact, she cares so little that she announced it on MTV News and says she doesn't understand why you all think she's some kind of "food robot." She really DOES like indie rock, especially the Foo Fighters.

"With a band like [Holy F---], I have to say that it was the name that got us listening. But we're glad we did. They're pretty good," Ray told MTV. "And I don't understand why that's so surprising. I find it weird that they find it weird.... I'm a huge fan of rock music in general — all kinds. I like indie stuff, my favorite band is the Foo Fighters."

I don't even know where to start. Indie rock is, like, almost as fantabulous as Dunkin Donuts coffee! Dave Grohl is so totally yum-o!

Sum 41 - "With Me" (as heard on Gossip Girl)

I feel like I'm the only person on the planet who hasn't fallen on to the Gossip Girl bandwagon yet, but the really lame part of me is resisting it.  I was a fat junior high schooler during prime Dawson's Creek era and still have yet to see a single episode of it...  And I mean, I'm not fat and wearing Airwalk sneakers and Jnco's (admit it, you did too) and smearing on the black eyeliner anymore (okay, I'm still smearing on the black eyeliner), but it's sort of the same deal.  Either way, though I haven't seen the show, their website (particularly the music section, where they list every song featured in the show along with purchase links) definitely deserves a compliment. Sum 41's song "With Me" was featured a while back and promptly sold close to 100,000 copies of the single immediately after.  And, oh, hey, guess what?  The official video for the song just debuted on MTV yesterday -- and Frontside just posted it on our YouTube account.  Check it:

in-browser photoshop?

I just got my invite for A.viary's browser-based image editor Phoenix, the first of a number of programs they're planning on launching, and from just two minutes of messing around with it right now, it's pretty amazing.  Between this and Google docs... I don't really see myself using Word or (my totally illegal, horribly glitchy copy of) Photoshop much in the future.  

Mostly I'm just using this as an excuse to post a video of a Hilary-Obama love child created using Phoenix, though.  

Staerk's GenArt show

In the madness that was New York during fashion week last week, I must admit that I was actually really painfully bored (florals? flowy sheer fabrics? frumpy greys and beiges? seriously? yaaaawwn) by most things on the runways, and thus had been a bit apprehensive about attending the GenArt show, featuring Staerk (the latest line from Danish designer Camila Staerk) -- but was really pleasantly surprised by the whole thing. (The Belevedere-vodka-sponsored open bar afterwards didn't hurt thing, either. I mean, hell, I'm linking back to them in my blog, I guess those retardedly strong vodka-sodas that had me in bed by 9 PM were actually a good marketing move on their part, though drinking three of them was a rather mediocre decision on my behalf.)

Staerk's aesthetic is structural and tough-but-feminine, featuring silky blouses and feminine cuts mixed up with interesting leather skirts, fringed pieces mixed up with menswear-inspired tailoured cuts, and heavy black eyeliner -- more or less right up my alley.

   

"THE BLOGS WERE GOING CRAZY!"

Seriously, Hilary? Seriously? This is your attempt to win back the vote of the tech-savvy hip youth?

No dice, Mrs. C. Nooooooooo dice.